Battles
by drlve
Summary: Rogan. This is an alternative to how they could have met. Rory is 32 and an editor, Logan is her new boss. Rated M for a reason! Complete!
1. First Impressions

**Title: Battles**

**Summary: Rogan. This is an alternative to how they could have met. Rory is 32 and an editor, Logan is her new boss. Rated M for a reason!**

**Disclaimer: All characters of the Gilmore Girls are a property of Amy-Sherman Palladino, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions and Hoffland/Polone in ass. with Warner bros. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Author's note: You guys were totally right about the format. I changed it.  
**

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Logan Huntzberger stood in front of the window of his new office staring out over the city. It was barely daylight. He mused over the fact that not too long ago he would be going to bed at this time after partying all night with his friends.

That seemed like ages ago now. His reality now was early mornings, meetings and offices that he could barely get used to before he was moved onto the next newspaper acquired by Huntzberger Publishings.

He was the negotiator, the one in charge of the operation to merge the newly acquired newspapers into the company his father created. It was a challenging job, but not something he chose for himself. Or was it?

There came a time in Logan's life when his father seemed to have gotten tired of his crazy lifestyle, his revolting. Or maybe it was just time to grow up. Either way, after the initial fruitless protesting Logan obliged and trained himself for his new role, learning quickly and settling into a new life. Sure, there were still differences between the two. Logan never did acknowledge the fact that he probably would have chosen the same path even if he was not forced to do so.

The truth was Logan did like to be in charge, he liked his job, he liked making decisions that affected the lives of the many that worked for him. And the truth was he was just as stubborn and perfectionist as his father. Even if their views clashed from time to time.

He was pulled back from his thoughts by the young woman standing behind him.

"Mr. Huntzberger?"

He turned back and looked at the woman in confusion. She must have been standing there a couple of minutes already trying to reach him.

"Your meeting with the staff? It is starting.

He suddenly realized where he was. The staff meeting at the Herald Star, the Huntzbergers' newest conquest was about to start

"Right. Thank you..." he said searching for her name. It took him some time to get used to the new personnel

"Kate" she smiled shyly, her face turning a slight shade of red

"Kate, of course" he smiled a polite smile, noticing the effect he had on her.

That might be the exact reason he was sent here by his father, he thought.

Over the last couple of years that he has been working he noticed that the newspapers he was sent to tended to have female editors. His father never talked about this to him, but Logan knew his father was aware of his son's ability to work well with these ladies and even influence them if that was needed for a smoother transition.

He did his research in the days before. The Herald Star was a small, but nevertheless notable newspaper. It's been around for a while and it's impressive array of editors definitely set it apart from the competition. It was, however, struggling and was unable to produce a profit for some time now, forcing its owner to sell it to the Huntzbergers' powerful company.

It's latest editor was a young and talented woman, whose quick rise from staff writer to assistant, then chief editor surprised no one who's read her articles. Coming from a rich society family, yet raised in a small town, with an impressive list of schools attended and clerkships acquired, Rory Gilmore started working at the Herald Star about 6 years ago, and although she was still young, just 32, she was certainly able to hold the small staff together.

The problem wasn't really a competence question. Logan knew that, he's seen one too many newspapers that were unsuccessful simply because of fierce competition or the lack of management. It had nothing to do with the content or the writers' ability. But most editors had trouble understanding that. They viewed the new owner as a heartless company that wanted to change their customary run of things.

That's where Logan came in. He was a negotiator, trying to win over the editor's support and their willingness to change things that were not working. And Mitchum Huntzberger knew that his son was more able to influence some of the female editors than any other one of his employees.

"My father uses me because of my looks" he thought smirking to himself as he walked down the corridor.

He took a breath before entering the staffroom and started his energetic introduction. He knew first impressions were everything.

"Good morning to you all. I am Logan Huntzberger of Huntzberger Publishings. As you all know this newspaper has just been welcomed to our company. For the next couple of weeks I will be working with you closely to help you all with this transition and make this paper as successful and profitable as possible"

He spoke quickly making sure to look at everyone, letting them know he's the boss now.

"Please go on with your business as usual. It will no doubt take a couple of days for me to get a feel of things, but you can expect a couple of changes which will be introduced to you along the way"

He was sizing the room as he was speaking, being the professional he is, taking mental notes of the people.

He was used to these types of stares, the ones he got on the first meetings. People were usually doubtful, even hostile at times, his job was a lobbying of sort, lobbying for Huntzberger Publishings.

He finished his speech with a smile, already seeing the affect on some of the female staffers in the room, he wondered which one the editor was. He should have made an appointment to meet her beforehand, but having only arrived a couple of hours before, he didn't have a chance.

"Thank you, Mr. Huntzberger" he heard a small, but confident voice and turned to his right to find the origin.

He saw a tall brunette with curly hair and side swept bangs, dressed in a simple white shirt and blue skirt, rising from her chair and walking towards him. It's incredible he hadn't noticed her before. Her piercing blue eyes stared straight at him and Logan felt an uncomfortable chill in his body. It's almost as if she had appeared from nothing astonishing him in doing so.

"I'm Rory Gilmore, chief editor. Nice to meet you" she shook his hand politely.

She looked determined and very focused, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking or how she felt about the new situation. He didn't have much time to ponder either.

"If you don't mind, we are going to go ahead with the staff meeting, it's a busy day" with that she turned to her staff, completely ignoring him for the rest of the meeting.

That sure as hell made Logan realize how she felt about the new owners.

She stood there, at the front of the room, speaking soft and fast, addressing today's task. Taking notes, assigning stories and answering questions. Logan slumped back into the chair she was sitting in and watched the room come alive. It was quite a sight. This delicate woman commanding the roomful of people, with her voice so scarcely audible, yet confident and focused. It was like she had some sort of a magic power, a queen bee's sense of command. He felt like the room was buzzing, and he felt a dizziness in his head too.

"Mr. Huntzberger

There it goes again. God he has to pay more attention today, he seems to be drifting off into his thoughts all the time. He looked up seeing those two blue eyes. The room was now empty. He hadn't noticed the meeting was over at all. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to focus. First impressions, after all.

"Ms. Gilmore, I see you are handling this staff well" he said, giving her one of his smirks, testing the waters

"That's not what your company thinks if they sent you here" came her blunt answer.

She was not looking at him, instead focusing on her scattered notes on the table in front of her only glancing at him a few times.

Her blunt comment surprised him, but also triggered a well practiced set of behaviour for him. He was here to do a job after all. He raised his eyebrows questioning and smirked again when he saw her look away in embarrassment. She might have been good at her job, but she was still young, and obviously not overly confident.

"Ms. Gilmore. I want to make something clear straight off. I am not here to fight with you. You are a part of this company as much as I am. Hopefully, you will start to feel this way too. You know as well as I do that this paper needs help in order to be made more efficient and therefore be kept alive. I'd appreciate if you would cooperate and made it easier for me to give you that help".

He talked low, stepping closer to her, keeping his eyes fixed on her. She looked almost like a dear caught in the headlights.

She was staring at the floor now furrowing her brows. With a deep sigh, she looked at him again and said:

"You are right. You have to excuse me, this has been a stressful time for us here"

"Understandable"

He held her gaze looking into her eyes again. Suddenly she looked tired, her eyes, they seemed to change their color by the second, stirring with something indescribable. He felt himself drifting again. He took a breath and started walking out of the room.

"We should get started. I want to see your records, want to review the format, go through the staff, resources, the whole deal" he jabbered, not looking back at her, forcing her to follow him hastily back towards his office.

It was gonna be a long day, especially with him not having slept on the flight, so he would have to focus. He made a mental note not to stare into her eyes anymore. They seemed to have a weird affect...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I think that serial has gotta go" Logan said looking over several papers spread out in front of him on his desk.

"I gave you the front page format, I gave you the distribution of ads, I get to keep the serial" she said, her last words drawn out as she stretched closing her eyes.

It was already dark outside. They had been at it all day long with the only breaks being when Rory stepped outside to talk with the staff and make some decisions or changes in tomorrow's issue of the paper.

He was exhausted. Not only from the fact that he hasn't had a proper night's sleep in days and having had a very rough first day, but also from debating over every single change he was offering to introduce to the paper.

"You haven't given me one thing concerning editing" he said looking up at her. She was still stretching and he found himself staring at her body twisting in her chair.

"That's because I am the editor" she said and gave a small laugh.

He couldn't help but smile, still observing her actions as she stretched every part of her body with her eyes still closed.

"Fine" she finally said, repositioning herself on her chair "if you think that will help. Let's drop the serial and let's move the business column to the front, but I am NOT having a friggin' gossip section".

He smiled again, silently giving a small nod of his head.

"I think we can call it a night" he said looking at the clock on the wall turning to eleven. This is going to take more effort than he thought.  
She stood up from the chair and gathered her papers.

"I'll see you tomorrow then" she said and walked towards the door. Her hand already on the doorknob, she turned around.

"I am sorry if I was out of line this morning" she said suddenly looking at him.

He looked up from his desk staring at her form in the dark room that was lit only by his desk lamp.

She opened her mouth as to say something more, but she changed her mind suddenly turning and opening the door. He watched stunned as the door closed behind her.

"No problem" he said whispering only to himself now.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He stepped into the elevator out of the deserted hallway of the office floor. He seemed to only see deserted office buildings nowadays, what with him leaving late and coming in early.

He had decided, numerous times before, to finally ask for a bed in his office. It would make things a lot easier. It seemed like when he wasn't so busy with work anymore, it meant his job was already over at that paper and he moved onto the next assignment

He sighed.

"I am drifting off again" he thought as he pushed in the button to the ground floor.

He leaned his back against the elevator wall and closed his tired eyes. He heard the elevator doors closing, but then they suddenly stopped and opened again as someone reached the elevator in a hurry.

He opened his eyes with a look of disapproval, but that vanished when he saw her sliding in the elevator right next to him

"Sorry" she mouthed and smiled, pushing the button again

"No problem" he whispered. He closed his eyes again, unable to resist the need to do so

"Long day, huh?" she asked noticing his fatigue

"Very" he said smiling, still not opening his eyes. He was sure he was about to fall asleep. His head felt heavy and dizzy. That dizziness again. He felt so tired he had trouble distinguishing reality from the muddy thoughts swimming in his brain. The air felt warm against his face, like some thick fluid surrounding him. And then the touch, as though someone was touching his arms

His eyes snapped open

She was standing right in front of him, facing him, looking down on his arms, her own hands touching them lightly

He was wide awake now, he looked at her, his breathing quickening, that unsteady feeling from this morning rushing back to him. He looked at her questioningly as she slid her hand up along his arm, now reaching his shoulder and moving down to his chest

He could not believe this was happening. A thought crossed his mind

"This is a dream, it must be a dream

"You think this is a dream?" he heard her say as she smiled, her eyes focused on her hands as she moved them down on his chest.

"That's so sweet" she said with a light smile.

He was confused. Had he said that out loud?

His pulse was racing now.

This was all too strange, she was so unfamiliar, but still he felt this incredible pull towards her, like she had this field of gravity. It was a feeling of falling towards her.

And then she slowly lifted her gaze, looking into his eyes the first time in the elevator. He was lost in her eyes. They were the deepest shade of blue, swirling, pulling him in more. He closed his eyes and let out a shallow breath trying to focus and grasp what the hell was happening around him.

He suddenly felt her lips against his. Light at first, warm and soft and sweet. It felt like a heatwave running through his body starting from his lips down and into his arms and legs. His arms moved without him even thinking about it and he pulled her close to him leaning into her kiss.

He was lost now, he was done trying to make any sense of this, he was kissing her passionately wanting to take the kiss deeper, further, like he wanted to live out all the need that suddenly rose in him through that one kiss. Her lips parted and welcomed his tongue inside her mouth.

He felt a fever now, not being able to control his own actions. He felt his limbs aching and he felt the need to move, to push her towards the wall of the elevator. He pressed her against the wall still kissing her.

He couldn't open his eyes. It was as if they were a hundred pounds heavy, it took so much effort, but he couldn't concentrate on this, not with her tongue dueling with his, her hands clinging to his neck and griping into his hair.

He broke away gasping for air finally managing to open his eyes.

She was gorgeous.

She looked flustered, her eyes yet another shade of blue and ever changing, clouded with an incredible want. She still had her arms around his neck not letting him go any further. Her shallow breaths felt warm on his face and her hair seemed to be everywhere, floating around her face, framing her delicate features.

"This is unbelievable" he thought as he plunged into another kiss crashing his lips against hers and tasting her mouth again.

He felt her press her hips against his, putting pressure on his already growing erection, making him groan. It was impossible for him to control himself. It now felt like he was in an airless space, not knowing which way was up or down.

He felt himself pushing her on the ground, kneeling over her still kissing feverishly. He steadied himself with one arm and roamed her body with another. He moved his lips down her neck sucking on her white skin and slipped his hand under her jacket.

Her body felt like it was radiating heat, he felt an incredible urge to be able to touch it, feel it and taste it. He tugged at her shirt and slipped his hand under it as the last couple of buttons came undone. Her skin felt soft and hot and she moaned at the contact.

He felt her hands at his hips, clasping his belt buckle and undoing it. It was getting harder and harder for him to concentrate on anything. All he could feel was this incredible need to touch her, kiss her, to be inside her. He wanted to disappear into her.

Their clothes seemed to melt away from the heat radiating from their bodies and he felt no resistance as he slid his hand up her legs towards her center. He groaned as he reached her wetness, making his head spin even faster than it had before.

He moved down from her neck planting kisses on her chest and finding her nipple with his mouth. He sucked on it hard while his finger slipped into her. He felt her gasp and buck against his hand.

She felt incredibly wet and tight and it made him painfully aware of his throbbing erection. He felt her small hands grasping his penis slowly pumping it. He groaned releasing her nipple from his mouth and burying his face in her neck and her hair. He pulled his finger out of her and positioned himself over her entrance. She lifted her legs and placed them around his hips pulling him towards her.

He slipped into her wetness effortlessly filling her up and making her moan. It felt incredible. She was so tight and wet he felt like he was going to explode. His heart was racing and he could not slow his breathing down, all he knew was that he needed release, he needed to pound away inside of her, needed to fuck her uncontrollably.

He started moving inside of her, her wetness making it easy for him to slide in and out. He felt all of his strength strained from his limbs, he could hardly hold himself steady, all he could feel was the incredible pull towards her and his cock buried deep inside of her. He was moaning loud now grinding his hips against hers, pounding his hard member into her.

He heard her moans getting louder and felt her nails digging into his back as she tightened around him, making him lose all control. He was now pushing so deep, so hard he thought he was gonna tear her apart. He started to feel the tingling in his legs, spreading up towards his cock, making him know he was not going to be able to hold off any longer. He was pumping frantically now moaning and pulling her hips onto his penis.

With one last thrust he felt himself explode and his orgasm washed over him taking away all the strength he had left. He fell back collapsing and all he could feel was the dull ache all over his body. He closed his eyes and panted trying to catch his breath.

There were no sane thoughts in his head. His pulse was racing so fast it made his whole body tremble. He was so caught up he didn't even hear the emergency alarm at first. It was an annoying shrieking noise getting louder and louder to a point he could not ignore it anymore.

"What the hell is that?" he thought trying to figure out what the noise was.

"The elevator emergency alarm?" he asked himself opening his eyes, seeing the red flashing light above his head.

"Why would it go off?" he thought closing his eyes again still exhausted and not thinking straight.

Then suddenly his surroundings started to melt as he opened his eyes again, the red flashing disappeared and the alarm softened into that of an alarm clock buzzing rhythmically. He turned and saw the 5:30 A.M. sign flashing.

He knew where he was now.

He was in his bed at his hotel room.

He closed his eyes sighing as he hit the alarm to silence it.

His eyes suddenly flew open as he remembered his dream. He lifted his head looking down seeing his stained sheets. He fell back on his bed furrowing his brows and letting out a long breath.

That editor certainly made an impact on him, he thought to himself as he prepared himself mentally to rise from his bed to get ready for another day of work.


	2. Trying to see beneath the surface

Rory Gilmore stepped out of the elevator holding a fresh cup of coffee in one of her hands and a stash of notes in the other.

It was barely 7 A.M. but she was already heading to the office. Breaking the golden Gilmore rule of not waking before the sun again, she thought to herself as she walked into the office.

She was one of the first to arrive, she always was. She loved it here, somehow it felt like a home away from home, something she can be proud and happy for, something she would work for no matter how much of her energy or time it would take.

"Ms. Gilmore"

The not yet familiar voice startled her.She looked at the owner of the voice. The tall blond man stood in the doorway of his office looking as though he's slept at least 12 hours.

How can he look so rested, she thought to herself, must be a coffee addict as well.

"Mr. Huntzberger" she said forcing out a polite smile "you are early this morning".  
"I wanted to run a couple of things by you before the meeting this morning. Just some stuff I thought about since last night."

"How was it even possible for him to think about anything? It must have been way past midnight when he got to bed, and he is already in at 7 A.M., plus he must have taken a shower at least, to be looking this refreshed... Oh my god I am rambling, I am actually rambling inside my head, is that even possible?"

"Ms. Gilmore

"Yessss" she snapped out of it and sat down in front of his desk in the same chair she was sitting in a couple of hours before.

She stared at him as he started discussing his newest ideas about the paper and how to make it more efficient.

She knew this whole thing was supposed to be good for everyone. The new owner would provide a secure funding for the paper and maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a second opinion about the run of things, it's not like she was overly confident in her abilities. She still thought it was a wonder to be able to have pulled this off this far.

But still. Here is this guy, what is he? 35? coming in here like he is some hotshot, giving her pointers and negotiating through changes that all felt weird to her, too corporate and too mainstream.

She was focusing on his face. He seemed like he could have been this carefree person in college, the ones she always disliked but envied as well for being able to live for the moment and go through life without feeling the consequences. And now, because of some weird twist of fate or maybe just sheer luck or birthright, he was sitting here.

She wondered if he was even happy to be doing this. He seemed... indifferent somehow... like someone who has accepted the fact that he was put here and did his job, but was there any passion there?

She narrowed her eyes as if trying to see behind his front. But she couldn't, all she could see was this guy sitting there with his confident demeanour, safe in knowing that he would get what he wanted no matter what she thought about the matter at hand.

She wondered about this. Whether he really did always get what he wanted. He seemed like the type. The playboy he would see at her grandparents' parties. The successful businessman with a pretty family for show, but also a couple of girlfriends in tow just in case. She frowned. She didn't see a ring on his finger. But he probably had a girlfriend or two already.

Heck he probably even managed to screw one of them in between leaving the office at midnight and waltzing in here this morning looking like a million dollars. He was probably mind blowing in bed or anywhere else for that matter. Too fucking perfect.

She shut her eyes tight. "I cannot believe your thoughts woman, get your mind out of the gutter" she thought to herself.

"Ms. Gilmore, is everything alright?

She opened her eyes almost as if from a dream.

"Yes of course" she stuttered and tried to replay in her head what he has been saying for the last couple of minutes "uhm, you were talking about the, uhm, photographers?

"Yes, in my opinion and experience, small papers like this benefit from not actually having photographers on the staff" he spoke slowly now trying to reach her.

Her reaction obviously must not have been too excited, as he continued carefully

"Look, your paper is obviously not going to be a competition for the huge papers out there. I think your aim shouldn't be to inform about the latest breaking headlines, but rather give an opinion, a room for thought about the most important issues of the day, which doesn't necessarily involve rushing out the photogs to capture the latest happening."

She looked at him dubious. She was almost mesmerized. He spoke swiftly, rationally, and she was trying to concentrate hard on composing an argument against him. If only she could have finished her coffee, this is a raid

"I think you are aware of that yourself. I think in the past one and a half year that's the direction you have been stirring this paper in and that's the way you write your editorials. I think that it's the right path for this particular paper, but I would encourage you to be more confident about that choice, not back away from it"

Okay. Now he was kissing ass.

Rory sat there bewildered. This guy is actually good

"You've gathered this by reading through all 549 issues of the paper that I edited?" she interrupted.

She was surprised, to say the least. Up to this point she thought of him as a businessman after the money and nothing else. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he did have a talent for this, an appreciation even.

"Ms. Gilmore, my job is to size up the papers that my company acquires. That means finding it's strengths and weaknesses and work to make them better" he paused "if that means making the paper more efficient, profitable, so be it" he smiled.

And there we go again. For a second there she actually thought this was about artistic perfection and not just... well, money. She sighed

"I guess it's your paper now

"But you are the editor"

She smiled hearing the line she gave him yesterday. She had to give it to him, he certainly had a quality of ...charm. He probably knew it too, heck his father probably knew it when he sent him there.

That pissed her off. Was she actually supposed to fall for his charm, to cooperate with him because he was... well, hot?

She shooed off that thought quickly.

"About the photographers. First of all, I don't see the need to employ three of them. And I definitely think you would profit from a cooperation with some of the bigger agencies instead

He certainly had a talent for negotiating, she had to give him that. He seemed to have a practice of persuasion: he blinded you with some thoughtful comment and while you actually felt good about yourself for a second, bamm, hit you with the obvious blow right after

"I see your point about this" she said slowly, glancing at the clock

"The staff meeting?" he asked noticing her concern

"Yeah, if you don't mind" she answered

"Sure"

She smiled as they got up from their seats walking towards the meeting room thinking about this last exchange. It felt reassuring for her. If she had to work with someone through this, at least she liked to know they clicked somehow: him knowing what she was thinking and them understanding each other with so little actually being said.

He certainly was a good person to be filling this job if it had to be filled, she thought.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a long day. Producing next day's paper turned out to be the bigger issue that day. She once again felt like on one of her first days, when she was squirming to meet deadlines, trying to guide people and hold their hands. She felt like she had to tear herself apart to be everywhere at once.

She was glad it was over. All she could think of was getting home, stuffing her face with some food and sinking into a bath

She noticed the elevator door closing as she stepped out of the hallway and leaped in to stop it from departing. She smiled as the doors flung back open and she was able to slide in. Looking up she saw him and blushed

That wasn't very editor-ly of me, she thought to herself but only whispered a "sorry" towards him.

He looked bewildered. He stood there staring at him in the empty elevator going pale, looking as though he's seen a ghost.

"Mr. Huntzberger? Is everything okay?

He took a shallow breath, his eyes still transfixed on hers and opened his mouth slowly to speak

"Yeah, yeah... it's... yeah, everything's great. Long day"

He actually stammered. That was strange. He always seemed so composed.

She didn't have much time to think about this because they were already at the ground floor and with the elevator opening they said their goodbyes.

Maybe he's claustrophobic, she thought to herself smiling. That would be priceless, Logan Huntzberger, hotshot executive, afraid of confined spaces. She chuckled as she exited the building.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

God it felt nice to sink into the hot water and inhale the smell of the bubble bath. This was by far the most enjoyable part of her day. She frowned at the thought of that.

"How pathetic is that?

Being chief editor at age 32 is tough and it certainly comes with some sacrifices. It definitely does not permit a very active social life, which Rory learned pretty fast about a year ago. But this was her priority now. She jumped at her chance to prove herself and yes, it might have meant losing touch with some people and letting relationships deteriorate, but it was something she wanted to try herself at. Something she was ready to do

It felt lonely from time to time, coming home to an empty flat, but she got used to it. Well, she never actually thought of it as a permanent state, but something that would change eventually, when she had time to focus on other things as well

She leaned back letting her head sink under the water groaning. Who was she kidding? Where is she gonna meet someone new? The last new person she met was..

She resurfaced thinking about him

"Logan Huntzberger" she said out loud.

She closed her eyes again and let her head rest on the edge of the tub.

He was certainly an interesting character. She was sure he was so good at doing his job, playing a role, that it was impossible to make out when he was being genuine or just kissing ass for the sake of the argument. He seemed to have excellent persuasive skills that's for sure. He's probably out there persuading some blond bimbo to spend the night with him right now

Her thoughts shifted and suddenly she was painfully aware of the silence inside of her apartment. Sometimes it felt nice, but most of the time it scared her to death.

She sighed. The warm water soaking her skin felt relaxing, and she felt the day's fatigue winning over her.

She brushed her arm with her other hand and imagined someone touching her, soothing her, calming her after the long day.

She tried to remember what it felt like to have someone give her that comfort, the comfort of touch. She remembered kisses, kisses planted on her neck and under her ear, the spot that got her turned on.

Her hand crept lower towards her stomach, then her legs. She imagined the room's silence disappearing with someone whispering in her ear.

She felt a heat inside her body, slowly burning her up.

She let out a low moan.

She felt him kissing her neck, moving towards her chest, feeling her breasts with his hands, massaging them slowly.

She felt his lips finding her nipple, nibbling on it and she moaned again at the thought.

She felt him licking her breasts and sucking on them rhythmically.

She felt a set of fingers finding her clit and circling it applying pressure.

She moaned louder as she felt a finger dip inside her disappearing in her.

She felt her body burning up, these sensations bringing parts of her alive she didn't know were sleeping.

The finger once again massaging her clit seemed to elicit a feeling that spread from her center out into every part of her body and she felt herself being lifted higher.

She was moaning continuously now, lost in the pleasure she was feeling. With a final stalling breath she came, her orgasm sending a tremble through her body. Her every nerve ending seemed to be on fire and she felt like she was floating for seconds before slowly coming down and feeling reality around her once again.

She opened her eyes and felt the water against her skin, already cooling down from the cool air of her apartment.

She took a deep breath and let it out, her sigh echoing in the quiet bathroom.


	3. Working on the problem

He sat at his desk once again looking out at the sun rising over the city. He was leaning back, holding the telephone to his ear listening.

"It's going fine, father

The thought crossed his mind, how unsurprising it seemed to be talking to his father at 7 in the morning about some business venture that was probably not even important to the whole of the company anymore.

He smiled as he listened to the man going on and on about it on the phone. He wondered if this was his future too. Whether at 60 years old his most important task at 7 A.M. would be to discuss some latest business affair

"I haven't decided yet. There is..." he stopped for a minute pondering "potential. Something..." he didn't have a chance to formulate that thought because just then his office door flung open with a loud thud.

He looked up and saw his editor storm in. He was caught up in the sight for a second. Her face was flushed and her determined eyes were sparkling and shooting a fiery gaze at him as she walked towards him

"You fired the photographers!" she yelled at him arriving in front of his desk and slamming a pile of notes on it

"I am going to have to call you back" Logan said replacing the receiver and rising from his chair.

He took a deep breath, it was so early in the morning, he wasn't ready for a full blown argument.

Especially with her. Why did she seem to look hotter when she was pissed

"We talked about this"

"No. YOU talked about this, you mentioned this, you proposed this, I did not agree"

"You agreed it was the right choice"

"I didn't say you could do it"

"It had to be done"

"No it didn't. An argument means listening to both sides, listing pros and cons and deciding weighing in all the information that is known. Not making some decision that you know I don't agree with behind my back"

Her gaze was piercing through him, she seemed incredibly pissed, her breathing heavy not just from yelling at him, but from the emotions stirring behind her eyes.

He looked at her and didn't say anything for a short time.

"Rory..."

She shot a glare at him bewildered.

Okay, maybe this was not the time to get to first name bases.

He started again.

"Ms. Gilmore, I am trying to do my job here. It involves making some decisions that might not be pleasant for you or your staff to deal with, but they are unavoidable. We talked about this, you acknowledged that it was a problem. There is absolutely..." he didn't have a chance to finish.

"You are ruining this place" she said almost in a low growl and with that, she stormed out of the office.

Logan was so caught off guard with this last exchange that it took him a couple of seconds to realize she was fleeing. He started after her.

"Editor? Ms. Gilmore!" he was walking after her swiftly now, walking out into the newsroom, ignoring the stares of the workers and trying to locate her.

He saw her barging into the ladies' room and walked after her.He opened the door not even stopping at the entrance and walked in making some of the ladies inside gasp in surprise.

Rory was standing in front of the sink holding onto the ledges, with her back towards him looking down and breathing heavily. She looked up at the riot and scoffed as she saw him standing in the middle of the restroom.

"Give us a minute" he said not even looking at the women. His voice was low, with a hardness Rory hadn't heard before. His eyes were transfixed on her as he waited for everyone else to leave the room.

"I wasn't done" he said, still with the low, hard voice.

"Oh I am sure you weren't" she said turning towards him, her face flushed even more. They stared at each other, neither one about to back down.

"This doesn't have to be this hard" he said his voice a slight bit softer.

"I should make it easy for you?" she asked, her glare as strong as ever.

"You shouldn't make it harder. I am trying to help" he said emphasizing every word as if that could persuade her.

"How is this helping? Those people are ours, they are family" she said pointing towards the door as if to identify the people, her voice slightly breaking.

So that's it, he thought. That's what's bothering her about this. She felt like he was destroying a family. It probably felt like that to her what with all the time he saw her spend here just in the past two days.

He stepped closer to her, his expression softening. He suddenly felt this urge to wrap his arms around her, to comfort her. He suddenly saw her not as the strong and confident woman that burst into his office, but as a helpless girl trying to keep what's important to her.

"Rory..." he tried again, saying her first name. This time she didn't protest, she looked like she had no strength to, he could see tears forming in her eyes as she looked down on the floor leaning back on the sink with one hand for support.

He stepped closer still stopping only inches away from her. With his voice barely audible now he said, almost pleading her:

"I am trying to save this paper"

She looked up at him with a broken expression, a sudden realization dawning on her.

"They are trying to shut us down" she said, more a statement then a question.

Logan sighed deeply, avoiding giving her a straight answer. He repeated himself:

"I am trying to save this paper. But you are going to have to trust me"

"Why would you do that?" she said looking in his eyes, her voice so low that if he weren't standing a mere inches away from her, he wouldn't have understood.

"I believe in it" he said.

She furrowed her brows. She was looking in his eyes intensely, still not understanding.

"Why?" she said with the word barely even coming out now.

He stared at her, stared at those incredible blue eyes, those hipnotizingly blue eyes observing them from this close.

"I just do" he said simply.

His arms reached around her, squeezing her arms and pulling her close to him. She didn't protest, she had no strength, or no will, he couldn't tell. He couldn't tell why he was doing it either. He pulled her in hugging her tightly as if he was going to reassure her about everything, as if he was more able to explain himself through this one simple gesture than with a thousand words. He heard someone coming in through the door chatting oblivious to the exchange that was taking place inside. He moved away from her and not looking back walked out of the restroom. He felt that dizziness again, that uncertain feeling. He walked back towards his office barely looking up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"This day has been hell. Pure and utter hell" he thought to himself.

He wondered if that constant feeling of being tired is ever going to subside. He tried to pinpoint the last time he felt rested, when he didn't feel this dull ache in every part of his body. He didn't manage. It must have been ages ago.

He found himself staring out of his office window again. It was something he liked to do, something he could do while organizing the thoughts in his head. It was late again. Too late.

He turned around and started gathering his stuff, putting his jacket on and shoving a couple of papers in his briefcase. He walked out of the room and into the newsroom that was once again dark and quiet.

He stopped dead in his track as her form came into view. She was slumped over a keyboard at one of the desks typing away oblivious to everything around her.

It must be one of her editorials she was working on, he thought to himself as he stared at her through the dark space. He smiled unintentionally seeing the determination that she was staring at the screen with.

That determination, that fire seemed to have translated into her work. He remembered reading one of her articles for the first time a couple of days ago as he was preparing for this work here. He was mesmerized by it, pulled into it. He must have read a couple dozen of her articles that night, he was so impressed.

Now standing here in the dark newsroom, watching her, he was even more amazed by her. Amazed by how young she was and how inexperienced yet still so determined. And of course there was the sort of magical effect she had on him. He couldn't deny it. He seemed to be not thinking straight when she was around.

How else could he explain the interaction in the bathroom this morning? It wasn't really professional that's for sure.

Suddenly he started walking towards her, not even thinking.

She looked up confused disturbed by the sound of his steps approaching him. He saw her take a deep breath and give a faint smile as she turned back to her work, not wanting to go into any more arguments today.

"Let's go".

Had he really said that? He was shocked himself. He saw her turn in amazement, looking at him perplexed.

"It's been a long day, you'll finish your editorial tomorrow. Let me buy you dinner" he said and was not even waiting for her answer turning away and walking towards the hallway.

He smiled as he heard her get up, shutting off her computer and gathering her stuff. He waited in the doorway and eyed her as she was making her way towards him. Her expression was nonchalant. It amused him, her not protesting or asking any questions, but agreeing silently. Probably a first for her in the last couple of days when it came to agreeing on something with him.

"I eat a lot" she said as she walked by him towards the elevator, stepping into the train that was waiting

He followed her stepping inside the elevator pushing the button, as the doors closed behind him he had a flashback from the dream he had a couple of nights before. His legs felt like they were gonna give way and he felt like he had to steady himself

"You don't like elevators much, do you?" she asked looking at him.

He looked up trying to decipher her words and realized that his embarrassment about the incredible dream he had must have come off as an actual worry. He smiled and said:

"I am working on the problem".

He wondered whether he should explain her about the uneasiness he gets when he is in a confined space with her. He figured it probably wasn't a good idea.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wow. She did eat a lot, he thought to himself as she watched her finishing off the last of her fries.

And she also drank a bit, he established, eyeing the handsome collection of empty beer bottles the two have managed to work their way through during the last hour or so.

She was slightly drunk, and that was probably an understatement.

"You seriously think Old Man and the Sea is his top work?" she said slightly slurring her words and concentrating on dunking a piece of fry in the ketchup smeared on her plate.

"Yeah" he said, taking another sip of his drink.

"What about Death in the Afternoon? Or A Moveable Feast? You gotta love that one, c'mon" she pointed towards him with a fry.

He chuckled "Yeah, you do. But it's not my favorite"

"What's so great about Old Man and the Sea? I wouldn't be this shocked if you would have said To whom the Bell Tolls or Farewell to Arms"

"Yeah, fortunately I didn't only read the college compulsory list, so I wouldn't say that" he said smiling and motioning at the waiter for another round of beer.

She looked at him amused.

"Is this an 'I am a loner, I am so over being caught up in life and am sitting back watching it all unravel' thing for you?

He couldn't help but smile again. He finished the last of his beer and placed the empty bottle with the rest.

"I don't know. I think it's more of an amazement. It's a force, it's the epitome of writing, that book. It's such a simple story, a tale you're told when you're young, something you know by heart without ever actually once reading it. And then you do and there it is. There isn't a word you could change. Anything to tell it better. It seems effortless. And true. It breaks my heart."

He looked down at the table as he talked, his fingers playing with one of the labels of a beer bottle. As he finished he lifted the new bottle that had just been delivered and took a sip.

Rory sat there frozen looking at him. She's never heard him speak like that when they were talking about work. He seemed to have a passion, something he could barely put into words, something that he struggled with, trying to explain to her. That touched her. She knew that feeling. All her life, she's been struggling to find the right words, and no matter what she wrote or how long she's worked on it, she never could reach that. And that's exactly what that book was for him, the unreachable perfection. Something simple and yet so indecipherable.

"Oh.." she said.

"Plus I'm crazy for fishing" he said, a smirk planted on his lips.

She smiled at the fact that he couldn't be vulnerable, that he had to make a joke to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, you gotta love fishing" she chimed in.

"Do you ever feel like you wrote the best you could?"

His question surprised her. Once again, it's like he saw into her thoughts.

"No, I don't think anyone ever does" she smiled.

"Do you miss it? Being an 'Ace Reporter'?"

She looked up at him, smiling a small smile

"Yeah, like crazy".

It was true. Being an editor had nothing to do with writing. It had to do with double checking, proofreading, correcting and organizing, but not writing.

"Ever thought about going back to it?"

"And give up editing?"

He nodded.

"It's not everyday someone my age gets a shot at editing"

"Yeah, but is it what you want? Or are you just doing it to prove a point?".

Her expression hardened, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to think hard through the haze that was forming in her head thanks to the copious amount of alcohol that she's consumed.

"I don't know. It just happened. I don't like to back away from things. I never really thought about where this is going or how, I just do it. I think I'm not too bad at it" she said a bit uncertain with an amusing look on her face.

Yeah, she was drunk.

He smiled and agreed "Yeah, you are pretty good".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Is this it Ace?" he asked, using her new found nickname.

"You are the devil. I am pretty sure of it by now. I am sooooo drunk" she slurred her words as she leaned on him walking down the street, stumbling with every step.

"Really, I hadn't noticed" he said smiling.

He probably was more used to the alcohol than she was, he could barely feel the affect. But then again long years of partying will get you that. He was steadying her drunken movements and trying to identify the number on the door in front of them.

"Is this your place, Rory?" he said, trying to get her to focus on finding the right address.

"I don't know, does it have a blue door?"

"No, it's brown"

"Good, my place doesn't have a blue door either"

"Acccce" he said, stressing the syllible, trying to persuade her.

"I don't know, stick in the key, if it opens it, it is" she blurted out in a high pitched voice.

He couldn't help but laugh. This was pretty unbelievable.

He took her keys and managed to open the door. He helped her into her small flat. It looked like a mess. And unused at the same time. Clothes scattered everywhere, and a lot of books. He was guessing the bedroom was in the back, so he headed that way, he could see Rory was already drifting off to sleep with only some incomprehensible drunken mumbling coming from her mouth.

He found the bedroom and placed her on her bed, removing her shoes, but stopping there. Honestly, he didn't know what to do. Undressing her would have been inappropriate probably.

"Where am I?" he heard her mumble.

"In your bed" he sighed smiling at her drunken state. She is going to have one hell of a hang-over tomorrow.

"I am setting your alarm clock for tomorrow. I doubt anyone will wake you up"

"Oh but my army of lovers will be scratching at my door first thing in the morning don't you worry" she said, her words barely understandable.

She was really amusing when she was drunk, he thought.

"Really? It doesn't look like any of your lovers are around eager to please you right now" he said chuckling, trying to at least get her to remove her coat.

"Tell me about it, I had to do that by myself last night too"

He froze at that comment. He couldn't believe he was hearing this. He didn't know whether to be amused or turned on.

A picture flashed before his eyes, from his dream again, her face and her moans.

God, this was insane.

"Really?" was all he could manage to say.

She turned, her eyes closed and drifting off to sleep already and with her one arm around his neck pulled his face into hers. She whispered in his ears slurring:

"Guess who I was thinking about" she said drawing out the words before finally falling asleep.

Her arms dropped back onto the bed.

Her words sent a heatwave through his body. He could smell her hair, almost feel her skin against his. And he sure as hell was turned on incredibly fast.

He stood up and took a deep breath, he needed to get out of here.

He covered her with a blanket and walked out of the flat thanking the heavens for the cool air that met his face as he walked out onto the late night street.


	4. So much for clarity

He was sitting in the meeting room looking at the people gathering for the morning meeting. He didn't feel like he had to sit through these meetings at all, but somehow this morning he just didn't want to miss it. It was past 7 already, she was late. He wondered if she even managed to get up at all. He snickered at the thought.

Suddenly she walked through the door. She was hungover alright, she looked pale, her skin a shade of grey and the circles under her eyes were a clear cut indication of what she had been doing last night. She probably had a massive headache as well, judging by the look of it. Plus the aspirin she just gulped down with a little help from her oversized coffee.

Still, she was a sight. Her eyes as blue as ever, and hair flowing around her face, he found himself staring as she began the meeting barely even noticing anyone in the room.

Her expressions throughout the whole meeting proved her headache has not subsided much. She finished the meeting and let everyone go with a wave of her hand. For a moment she seemed like she was going to collapse into a chair as the room slowly emptied, but she took a deep breath and started collecting her stuff.

Logan stepped up to her.

"Rough night last night, Ace?" he said not able to hide his signature smirk

Rory rolled her eyes

"Have I told you you're the devil? Because it's true, I am absolutely positive" she rambled while heading for the door.

Logan joined her on her way to the newsroom

She suddenly stopped dead in her track and turned to him closing her eyes, placing her hands on them absent-minded

"You wouldn't happen to know how I got to bed last night, would you?

She opened one eye, peeking through her fingers. She was adorable

"Last thing I remember was me reenacting Old Man and the Sea standing on top of a table at the pub" she said embarrassed

He stood there with a wide smile remembering the scene

"Yeah, you are quite the drunk

"Oh God, please tell me that was the most embarrassing scene of the evening and I didn't do anything else" she said turning away from him and continuing her walk down the hall.

He smiled at this and presumed walking by her, looking down on the floor. Obviously she didn't recall telling him she fantasized about him while pleasuring herself. And that was probably a good thing, she probably wouldn't have the guts to look him in the eyes ever again. He decided to play it coy

"I think that's about as embarrassing as it can get

"So how DID I get home?" she said dragging out her words as though pronouncing them was a huge feat in her miserable state

"Why editor Gilmore, I wouldn't know that, now would I?" he said, his grin in place as he gave her a look and passed her by heading off towards his office

She stood there smiling and cursing her hangover.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He walked back into his office and slumped into his chair. The latest edition of the paper lay on his desk and he started flipping through it.

Suddenly something caught his eye.

His mood sunk quickly and he took a deep breath. He felt like he was making a progress, a connection and that this whole ordeal wasn't going to be such a hassle like he thought the first time he got here.

That feeling was gone now. He picked up the phone

"Kate, can you ask the editor to come to my office?

He put the receiver back still staring at the page that has caught his attention. He walked to his favorite spot by the window and prepared himself mentally for another, no doubt hostile, confrontation.

He sighed. To say he was sick of them was an understatement.

As he waited his anger rose. It pissed him off to feel like they were doing things behind his back. He heard the door open.

"If you asked me to come in here so you can make fun of my hangover I suggest you find something better to do, I have a job to do, you know" she joked as she walked into the room closing the door behind her.

She looked at him staring out of the window with his back towards her.

"I thought we had an agreement on the serial" he said, his voice low and cold, in stark contrast to his playful tone out in the hallway just a couple of minutes ago.

Rory sighed and glanced at his desk, seeing the paper spread out.

"Logan, I can..."

He cut her off by turning around. His expression shocked her and made her stop dead in her track. Something dark was boiling in his eyes, masked anger and tension building up on his face. She almost stepped back from the surprise. But she quickly changed her composure as well meeting his fierce gaze.

"I thought we could discuss it again, I really don't see the point in discarding something that's been almost like a foundation for the past, I don't know, 8 years at this paper. I realize that doesn't mean much to you...

He cut her off, his tone unchanged forcing her to raise her voice to try to finish her sentence.

"That is not the point. The point is we agreed to drop it. I stated my reasons for it, we negotiated and you agreed"

"Yes I did, but what does it matter if we do it for another week or not..."

"It matters because you are constantly revising my decisions and I think it's not clear for you that I am in charge now..."

"How am I constantly revising your decisions? You are the one making hasty choices without consulting me"

The two were approaching each other with the tension building in the room around them. His eyes were shooting sparks and she was more and more enraged by every word he said.

"I am making choices that will help this paper" his voice was strong, commanding.

"You are taking over"

"It's what I am here to do" he spat.

"If you want to run the paper all by yourself, then go ahead and fire me but I am not just gonna nod and agree to every single decision that YOU think is right" she was yelling now, her eyes fiery.

He stood there in silence for a split second studying her feature and furrowing his eyebrows as if he were trying to comprehend something.

"Is this about keeping some useless old bloke on staff just for the sake of family again, because if it is..." he glared at her.

"You don't know what the hell you are talking about" she screamed at him losing her cool.

She turned and took a step towards the door opening it to walk out.

She gasped as she felt a resistance and then heard the door slammed in front of her as he shut it with a powerful slam of his hand.

She spun around seeing him right in front of her, his face only inches away from hers and his hand still firmly on the door making sure she couldn't open it again. She stared at him with a look of confusion and shock, her chest quickly rising and falling.

"I am sick of you running when you are losing an argument" he said his voice low and mixed with something she hasn't heard in it before.

He was leaning against the door and focusing on the floor but still towering over her and pausing as though he was trying to regain his composure.

Moments passed.

Rory opened her mouth as if to say something but he cut her off before she could start.

"I am sick and tired of you pushing your luck. I told you before but I am gonna tell you one more time. Right now, I am the only thing keeping this paper from being shut down" he spoke slowly, stressing every word and lifting his gaze to look in her eyes, "I am the only one on your side, so I suggest you appreciate that fact and don't try to screw me over every chance you get".

The sheer anger radiating from him as he spat out the words silenced her. She felt like she was shrinking, like she was losing her ground. His presence was overwhelming and there was something in the way he talked, the way he was almost shaking with this intense feeling.

"I hope we're clear" he said, his voice low and husky.

For a moment she felt like her head was spinning with the incredible tension coming from his face only inches away from hers. She felt her anger turning into anxiety and expectation. Her breath was caught and she could swear he was moving towards her, all she could concentrate on were his lips coming closer.

Suddenly she heard the doorknob turn as he opened the door for her and turned his back, walking back to his spot by the window.

"You can go now" he said, his voice so low, it almost cracked.

He took a deep breath as he heard the door close behind him.

Fuck, he couldn't believe the effect this woman had on him.

He steadied himself on the window frame, leaning against it and closing his eyes.

Pissing him off was one thing, contradicting him was another, and the fact that arguing with her turned him on uncontrollably didn't help much either.

He stood there bewildered.

He had an erection.

An actual erection just from having her scream in his face.

Something is seriously wrong with you, he thought as he tried to calm himself and regain control over certain parts of his body.

What the hell is wrong with you, he asked himself, is it sex? Is it fucking sex? Because if it is you need to get laid quick and get a friggin' grip on yourself, because this is getting ridiculous.

Of course he knew it wasn't just wanting sex. It was wanting her. Ever since that insane dream, he felt himself drawn towards her, wanting to touch her and kiss her and have all of her.

Okay, these thoughts certainly didn't help him get rid of his erection. Once again he concentrated on calming himself. It was not easy, with her perfume still lingering in the air almost as if she was still in the room.

"Logan" her voice was small and soft, barely audible, but it made him spin around in a dizzy.

Had she been in the room all along? She closed the door but never left?

She stood there, her expression breaking his heart and stirring his feelings again and he felt like he had trouble breathing again.

With her face full of remorse and hurt she took a step towards him.

"I am sorry. I really am, it's just hard okay? I am trying, I swear"

He felt as though he's been hit in the head, the room was spinning and his desire rushed back to him with a vengeance. He couldn't think straight, all he knew was that he needed her to be somewhere else or he would lose his mind just looking at her.

His words came as though it took him a horrible amount of effort to get them out and this stunned her.

"Please just stop" he closed his eyes, almost pleading "shut up, just shut up" the air coming out in shallow breaths.

She took another step amazed by what she saw, the need, the want in his eyes, his uncertainty as though he had trouble controlling himself or his actions and would lose it any second. He noticed her aproaching him slowly.

"Don't" his voice still pleading in vain, he looked up at her again.

She timidly closed the gap between them and continued to stare at him, her breathing starting to match his rapid one.

He closed his eyes again as if finally giving up and with one hand reaching out grabbed her arm and pulled her in.

His lips crashed into hers meeting them in a bruising kiss. His hands moved up from her arms to her neck, to her head, her hair, pulling her face close to his tasting her like she was salvation.

She tasted incredible. Her soft lips parting in need and her tongue welcoming his own in her mouth. He kissed her with a need that seemed like it had been suppressed forever.

Her fragile frame pressed into his body as his hands once again fell down onto the small of her back pulling her into his strong hug. Her hips pressed against his and she gasped as she felt his erection.

Her eyes flew open as he broke their kiss to catch his breath.

He didn't open his eyes, but rested his forehead against hers inhaling her incredible smell and holding her in his arms. He didn't dare open his eyes. He was afraid it would mean having to explain himself or see her expression questioning him.

He dove into another kiss instead and groaned in pleasure as he felt her respond.

It was making him crazy. All he could concentrate on was that she was finally in his arms, he was finally touching her, tasting her, kissing her, roaming her body with his hands. Their kiss was full of need, frustration and passion, violent and unappeasable, their bodies both wanting the other in a suddenly aroused desire.

The sound of the phone ringing broke the moment.

He felt her jump back and she stared at him wide-eyed, her chest still heavily rising and falling.

Breaking contact felt horrible, like a wound opening, like he has lost something that was crucial to being.

He panted and ran his hand through his hair turning his attention to the phone.

He walked over to the desk trying to regain his composure.

He stood behind his desk for a moment, steadying his breathing then picked up the phone

"Yeah?

As he listened he looked back at her, still standing there in the same spot, looking shaken. That was a bad idea, because it made trying to calm down almost impossible. He looked down on his desk as he concentrated on what he was being informed about. He frowned.

"Yeah, I'll take it, patch him through".

It was his father, and Logan already knew what he wanted to talk about.

He looked back at Rory, who was now feeling more awkward by the second. She motioned towards the door and he nodded silently realizing it was probably better if she was not in close proximity anymore. He wasn't sure he could think straight with her in the room.

He sighed as he watched her exit and slumped back into his chair.

"Hey Dad" he said, trying to sound casual.

He listened to his father and replied concentrating on the matter at hand.

"Yeah, I did arrange to have it dropped... it's going to be dropped...Yeah, there was a misunderstanding... I'll handle it, it's under control... I think it is, let's just give it a bit more time".

He replaced the receiver and leaned back in his chair closing his eyes.

He needed to clear his head, think straight, calm down. But all he could see and think of was her in his arms.

Fuck, that woman turned him on.

He was astonished. Yeah, he's been affected by women before, he couldn't say he was never turned on so much before, but it never prevented him from doing his job, from concentrating on things that were important. He could always separate the two. He felt it was harder and harder for him to be a professional around her. There was too much desire and want and ... emotions even.

I don't need a bed in here, I need a fucking bathroom to take a cold shower, he thought to himself groaning out loud.


	5. Giving in

"Leaving early today Ms. Gilmore?" he asked watching her stand by the elevator with some of the other staff members departing for the day.

It was 8 P.M., early for her still.

She turned around slowly not looking at him, he could already see her blushing

They avoided each other like the plague all day long. Logan caught her departing form by accident as he walked through the hallway. He decided he'd at least give a shot at trying to sort out the situation, just see the reaction.

Her reaction made it clear to him that she thought that this morning was a mistake. She was obviously embarrassed and trying to flee the scene, without even attempting to talk to him.

"Yeah, it's been a long day" she said indecisively still looking anywhere but him.

He sighed, barely noticeable.

Fine. It was all he needed for him to be back in control, he needed to stop obsessing about this situation, obsessing about her, and move on.

"You have a good night then" he said and turned to walk back into his office.

The newsroom was slowly emptying for the night, only a couple of scattered workers still at their desks. He walked through the dimly lit hallway and past his secretary's desk. Without even looking at her or stopping he talked:

"You should go home Kate, it's pretty late"

She stood up, still uneasy around her new boss.

"You don't mind Mr. Huntzberger?"

He reached his door now and turned back to face her as he walked in.

"Of course not, good night"

He walked in not even waiting for her reply and headed for his desk. His office was dark with the light outside already fading. He sat in his chair not bothering to turn on any of the lights and closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair and then resting it on his eyes.

He must have set there for minutes just trying to rid his head of all thoughts and accepting the fatigue taking over him. The sound of the door opening came to him as if from far away and he sighed as he dropped his hand and opened his eyes expecting to see his secretary, unsure and hesitant ready to tell him something.

What he saw instead was Rory standing in the door with her jacket on and her briefcase held by both her hands protectively in front of her. He sat there shocked unable to find the words to say. She was keeping him locked in her gaze but said nothing.

Logan met her gaze and stared at her as if trying to read her thoughts.

It seemed like an eternity passed. He didn't move, he just looked on with his face frozen in a questioning expression.

She started moving towards his desk. Her movements were hasty yet it seemed to take her ages to reach his desk.

He looked on, his surprise growing as she didn't stop but rounded his desk and came to a stop right in front of him, stuck in the small gap between him and his desk.

He sat there dumbfounded trying to understand what was happening.

Of course that was a futile attempt, as her closeness shattered any chance of him thinking straight. His thoughts raced and he felt his desire becoming more evident again.

He stood up and met her gaze once more, their faces only inches away from each other. He took another small step, their bodies now barely separated by anything, their faces side by side. He could hear her breathing become more rapid and he could smell her perfume bringing back this morning's memories quickly.

She turned her face slightly, her nose touching the side of his face. He closed his eyes as he felt the sensation of her touch and exhaled sharply. He felt her tremble and that pushed him over the edge.

As if his self control were lost with that one moment he reached for her, jerking her close and clinging his arms around her as his mouth found hers.

Their kiss was eager, bruising and full of desire. He felt helplessly lost as he held her in his arms, his desire once again taking over him, making him forget all sane thoughts. He didn't resist, just gave into wanting her, devouring her.

His urge overwhelmed her and she felt herself falling back, her butt hitting the ledge of his desk. He lifted her, effortlessly, placing her on his desk and pushing himself in between her legs parting them.

He broke away from the kiss and looked down, sweeping off his desk with one swift motion and laying her back down, his weight pushing down on her body.

His lips went back to kissing her, sucking on her lips and his tongue forcing its way deep into her mouth.

She gasped at his intensity. She felt like she was melting away, like she has lost all will and was controlled only by him now. Her blood was rushing through her vessels, sparking fire inside of her and awakening her senses, she felt a void inside of herself that needed to be filled, that was asking for release. She let out a load moan as his mouth left her lips and moved onto that spot beneath her ear, sucking on it.

He was forcing her jacket off of her arms, tugging at the fabric. He felt himself becoming harder and obeyed the incredible desire to push his hard member towards her center. She yelped at the sensation and wrapped her legs around his waist in return. He raised himself to look at her and she whimpered at the loss of touch.

He grasped her shirt and ripped it open, with buttons flying off, exposing her chest. He stared at her breasts clad in a simple white strapless bra and dove in to kiss them. His hands lifting her slightly to go behind her back, he unhooked the clasp and removed her bra.

His mouth found her right nipple as his hands were still on her back pulling her close. He sucked hard on her nipple making her hiss and inhale sharply. His hands let go of her back, placing her back on the desk and came around to clasp her breast pushing them together. He licked both her nipples and watched them harden.

Her hands were in his hair now, gripping his head pulling him closer in a demanding gesture. His hands left her breasts and with his mouth still sucking wildly he reached down to push her skirt up. His hands moved up her thighs sending a shiver through her body.

The feeling of her warm, smooth, bare skin against his hands was incredible. His lips left her nipple and moved down her bare chest, placing smeared kisses on her and reaching her navel. At the same time his hands grasped the hem of her panties and pulled at them.

She loosened the grip of her legs around his waist enabling him to tug her soaking panties off of her. He pushed her further up on the desk holding her by her waist, her head almost reaching the other brink and stooped down to bury his face between her legs.

Her eyes rolled back as she felt his tongue lick at her center parting her lips. His tongue felt warm and sent a feeling of electrical shock through her spine, down to her center. She moaned loudly in frustration

He tasted her wetness and dipped his tongue inside of her making her buck. He held her steady as he flicked her clit with his tongue then nibbled on it. She was moaning continuously now.

The sound of her enjoyment seemed to send a shockwave through his body, going down to his already rock-hard member. Pleasing her with his tongue turned him on even more, his dick now one throbbing, demanding object.

He sucked on her clit energetically as he placed two of his fingers inside her vagina. She was so fucking wet, his fingers slid in all the way and she bucked again at the sensation. Her hands were still in his hair pulling him close. He started moving his fingers in and out of her, feeling her juices around his fingers while massaging her clit with circular motions of his tongue.

The feeling of her tight pussy around his finger was incredible, her warmness surrounding them, clamping on them. He felt an incredible urge to replace them with his cock

Her moans were coming deep from her mouth and she felt like all of her nerves were on fire. She whimpered in protest as she felt him remove his fingers, but moaned again as she felt his tongue replacing them once again.

With his hands now free but trembling, he clumsily undid his belt buckle and pushed his pants off together with his underwear, finally relieving some pressure off of his cock that felt like it was about to burst.

His tongue still buried in her, he raised his hands up to her waist, steadying her on the desk. Then with one swift motion he straightened himself and pulled her towards his expectant erection hearing her gasp at the sudden change. He inserted his throbbing member in one long thrust making her cry out.

He was not attentive as he slammed into her another time groaning at how tight and wet she felt around him. He felt like he had absolutely no control over his movements as he slammed into her again and again setting a steady rhythm for them.

Her arms went up above her head and she grasped the edge of the desk. He looked down at her, her eyes shut tight and her mouth opening slightly as her face reflected the pleasure she was experiencing. Her breasts were bouncing as he thrust into her again and again and sweat was forming on her body.

She looked beautiful, it amazed him and fueled his desire even more. He could hardly restrain himself from banging his cock into her as deep as he could. The sight of his own member glistening with her juices as he pulled in and out fascinated him and he felt it harder and harder to contain his pleasure. His deep growling was getting louder and he was mumbling and cursing incomprehensibly.

His fingers found her clit wanting to push her over the edge. He massaged it and heard her breathing become even more erratic. Her hands let go of the desk and grasped his butt gripping him tightly

Her moaning becoming louder still, she commanded him "Harderrrr..." dragging out the word.

The sound of her commanding him made the last strand of his self-control snap. He increased his speed and pushed even harder into her, her butt slamming against his legs.

He heard her curse as he felt a wave of trembling running through her body and felt her contracting around his member. Her face flushed, her moans erratic and loud, she came hard, her orgasm lasting for long seconds and making her loose her breath and her body go completely numb with pleasure.

The sensation of her pussy clamping on his dick pushed him over the edge and with one last stiff thrust he emptied into her.

His orgasm washing over him in waves, he let out a muffled cry and collapsed on top of her, their sweaty bodies clinging to each other.

His heart was racing wildly, his pulse making his whole body pulsate. He pulled out of her slowly, making her gasp again. Her panting was slowing as she wrapped her arms around his back. He buried his face in her neck trying to slow his breathing, his arms coming to rest along her face

He was slowly regaining conscious thought as he was trying to grasp what had happened. He felt her warm body beneath him pressed against the desk. His mind racing it dawned on him that in his boundless haste he ravaged her body without any concern. He felt ashamed and lifted himself tensing, starting to whisper:

"I'm... I'm sorry... I just... I couldn't..."

She hushed him with a smile, pulling him back down.

"God... please don't apologize" she breathed, her strength still gone.

He sighed in relief, smiling into her hair and rested his body against her once again.

They lied there for minutes, neither talking, just ravelling in each other's hold.

Finally she stirred, trying to move her body becoming numb under his weight. He noticed and lifted himself off of her, his hands going behind her back and lifting her with him as he backed away from the desk and sat back in the chair now pushed up against the wall.

She was now sitting in his lap with her legs hanging off of the chair's arms. His quick movements to reposition them took her by surprise and she sat in his lap feeling uncomfortable, blushing. He couldn't help but smile and he nuzzled her neck to try to make her forget her awareness of the situation.

"You okay?" he whispered in her ear.

"Uh-hummm" she hummed smiling.

"We should have arguments more often" he said, his voice low, exhausted.

She chuckled quietly.

"More often than we already do?"

He groaned closing his eyes.

"Fine, then we should have sex more often"

She chuckled again blushing and squeezing her eyes shut.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Well that was certainly a first. Cleaning semen off her thigh in the restroom of the office.

She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed.

Her face was still slightly flushed, her bangs sticking to her forehead and the rest of her hair a mess. Her lipstick was smeared and her lips swollen. She frowned and started wiping her face and straightening her locks.

Her body felt like it was recovering from having climbed a mountain or something. She felt sore and tired, but all of those were good feelings. She leaned against the sink closing her eyes remembering their lovemaking. She smiled and sighed but as she opened her eyes and saw herself in the mirror again, panic set in.

What the hell did she just do? Sleeping with the owner of the paper!

Well, not technically sleeping. And not technically the owner. The son of the owner. Her boss. She had sex with her boss. Wild, crazy sex. With someone she's met, what? 3 days ago? And someone she usually yelled and argued with.

She suddenly remembered their argument in his office this morning. His sudden rage and anger, and that... that he was turned on.

Well, so was she, to admit the truth.

God, this is going to be a disaster, she thought.

She pondered about what to do. She actually contemplated sneaking out and making a run for it. That was probably not a good idea though. She took a deep breath and walked out of the restroom.

She stopped in the hallway, looking over the dark newsroom. Thank god no one was here anymore.

"You ready to go?" his soft voice startled her.

"I got your stuff, let's go" he said stepping out of the shadows holding her jacket and briefcase, already wearing his own.

She looked at him and obeyed silently as if she was a little girl, putting on her jacket as they walked towards the elevator.

She sneaked a look on the way. He looked so composed, so confident. It intrigued her and annoyed her at the same time.

They stepped into the elevator and he pushed the button shutting the doors behind them. She was straightening her skirt absentmindedly and was taken off guard as he stepped up to her, pushing her back against the wall of the elevator. He kissed her soft and slow, tasting her lips and then smiling as he pulled away. It was such a different kiss from what they have shared while having sex. Those were demanding, fiery kisses, while this was feather light and soothing to her lips.

He looked at her as she stood there, with a smile forming at her lips, her eyes still closed.

"I thought you didn't like being in an elevator" she whispered barely audible.

He laughed out loud.

She stared at him surprised as the elevator came to a stop on the ground floor. He put his arm around her waist pulling her close as he walked out of the building.

"You want to know a secret?" he whispered in her ear sending chills down her spine.

She looked at him with the same confusion, questioning him silently.

He smirked as he waved a cab down and watched as the car pulled up next to them. While opening the door and guiding her in, he whispered into her ear:

"The only reason I felt uncomfortable in an elevator with you is because I had a dream about you seducing me in one"

She stopped mid-motion as she comprehended his words and looked in his eyes that were twinkling with mischief.

"You did not!"

He just continued to look at her, a smirk growing on his face.

She slumped into the backseat and smiled in disbelief rerunning scenes in her head.

"1600 Chestnut Street" she heard him say and she turned to him shocked once again.

"How did you know my address?"

He kept his gaze fixed ahead and chuckled lightly.

"I carried your drunk ass home last night, remember?"

She shut her eyes covering them with her hand remembering the whole embarrassing ordeal.

"Oh my God"

He chuckled again.

"Now you tell me a secret" he said grinning from ear to ear.

She dropped her hand and kept staring ahead shaking her head.

"I have no secrets concerning you"

"Oh but I think you do" he said, his voice a notch lower.

She turned her face to face him and narrowed her eyes questioningly.

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"About you fantasizing about me" he said not able to hide his amusement.

She opened her mouth and gasped in realization, blushing violently. She slapped his arm with her hand and covered her eyes again.

"You know plenty"

She was as embarrassed as she could be.

He put his arm around her pulling her close and kissing the top of her head still amused. He was in a great mood. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so good.


	6. Dueling

She got out of the cab and turned to face him as he stood in front of her still highly amused from having given her a hard time during the ride. She looked at him and took a deep breath.

"You can't come in" she said exhaling.

He smiled and stepped closer to her lowering his head to plant small kisses on her neck.

"Oh, c'mon Ace" he whispered.

"Nooo" she moaned "my apartment is such a mess"

"It's nothing I haven't seen before" he said chuckling "plus, I'm not going in to have a drink on the sofa" he whispered, his voice husky.

Her breathing became shallow as he found that spot under her ear. He suddenly stopped and moved past her, springing up her steps.

"C'mon" he said and watched as she sighed and fumbled to find her key.

She walked through the door and immediately started picking up stuff from the floor trying in vain to create at least some trace of tidiness. He watched in amusement as he took his shoes and coat off and took a hold of her hand pulling her inside. She groaned giving up trying to achieve anything and started to undress herself.

He walked to her room, pulling her behind her and slumped down on her bed pulling her to him. She stood next to him, with his legs on either side of her and she dug into his hair, caressing his face with her other arm.

He closed his eyes and sighed relaxing at her touch. He pressed his face up against her stomach resting his head there. His hands were caressing her legs, slipping under her skirt.

"I want you" he said simply.

That simple statement aroused her immediately.

She couldn't believe the effect he could have on her. It amazed her how self-assured his demeanour was. It was as though he never had doubts or second-guesses about anything. It gave him a certain irresistible charm, but it also teased her. She felt like she had no control, like he was in charge. And while it made it impossible to refuse to succumb to his intentions, it made her want to regain her strength, and show him she too could be in charge.

She pushed him away, making him drop back on his elbows on the bed.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

She took a step back and started to unbutton her shirt slowly. He inhaled sharply at the sight of her standing in the dark room only lit by some of the streetlights that were shining through the window. Her shirt dropped to the floor and he started to rise from the bed as he saw her skin exposed wanting to touch her and feel her.

He stopped mid-motion as he saw her shaking her head telling him silently to stay put. With a slow smile he leaned back on his elbows realizing she wanted him to watch her.

Next was her skirt and she was pulling it down painfully slow for his liking.

"C'mon Ace" he pleaded, his frustration becoming apparent.

She hushed him and let her skirt drop to the floor as well, kicking it free of her feet. She stood there in her simple white underwear and heals looking incredibly sexy.

She could see his desire growing as his eyes swirled with something dark. She walked over to him smiling seductively and pushed him further up the bed laying him flat on his back. She moved onto the bed to straddle him. He groaned as she began to grind her hips into him and started to unbutton his shirt.

Laying on his back, he lifted his arms to touch her, but she stopped him and forced his hands over his head, pinning him to the bed. He obliged even though he just wanted to spin her around and take charge himself.

She helped his shirt off and was now unbuckling his belt and opening his pants. She leaned over him letting her hair fall around his face and kissed his neck slowly. He moaned as he felt her licking his neck.

Once again he raised his arms in order to put them on her back, but she stopped him again, this time more forcefully and to stress her point ground her hips into his, putting pressure on his crotch. He hissed accepting she was in charge now.

She moved over to his chest, planting kisses along it moving downwards. She slowly slid off of him and continued to kiss her way down licking the exposed and sensitive skin. His breathing became more heavy and he shut his eyes tight enjoying her actions.

He felt her tug at his pants and he lifted his hips to enable her to slide them off. She pulled his pants and boxers off in one motion, making sure his socks came off as well.

He laughed at this, but suddenly his smile froze on his lips as he felt her tongue on his penis. He lifted his head looking down in shock and saw her lick his rapidly hardening member with her tongue.

"Oh my god" he sighed letting his head drop back.

His hands rose again but fell back hesitantly, not knowing what to do with them.

He looked up again and saw her getting on the bed on her knees straddling his legs and bending down to be able to take him in her mouth.

He had a full blown erection now and he was breathing rapidly. She sucked on his cock making him lose all conscious thought and groan loud. With one hand she clasped the base of his cock and took as much of him as she could in her mouth.

Her mouth felt warm and soft and her actions made his head spin around in a daze.

He couldn't believe what was happening.

He thrust his hips unable to control himself pushing his member deeper in her mouth. She moaned and started moving her head up and down on him.

He was writhing in pleasure and pulled his legs up to give her more access. She slid off his legs and repositioned herself in between them all the while pumping his dick with her hands. She licked the tip of his cock and the returning sensation made him moan.

"Fuck... you're incredible" he panted.

His hands moved to her head unintentionally but dropped hesitantly as he remembered her insistence from before. To his surprise, with her free hand she took a hold of his and placed it on her own head.

"God" he hissed when he realized she wanted him to hold on to her head as she took him in her mouth again.

He lost all control and started thrusting in her mouth, his hands pulling her head down on his rock hard penis. She swallowed him up and her mouth felt incredible.

"Oh my... God... you are... you are fucking incredible" he mumbled as she sucked on his penis.

He felt like he was going to come any minute and with the last sane thought of his, he tried to pull her off of him, not wanting to come just yet without giving her any pleasure.

She realized his intention and resisted, quickening her movements and stroking his cock with her hand as she sucked.

"Rory... God... you gotta stop... I'm gonna cum..." he mumbled pleading her

She moaned making him lose all control and he thrust into her mouth violently as her grip became tighter around his penis. He came with an unbelievable intensity, shouting her name, his sperm filling her mouth and her sucking on his cock still. He gasped and groaned, his breathing erratic as he felt her suck him clean.

"Ohhhhhhhhh" he moaned feeling her lips on his cock, sensitive from having just had an orgasm.

She fell down next to him, sighing in exhaustion, wiping her mouth

"Fucking hell" he cursed, not being able to do anything else. He was spread out on her bed annihilated.

"What are you doing to me?" he said, dragging out the words and pulling her up next to him as she smiled and snuggled into his embrace

"You liked that?" she asked teasing him

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he asked panting, "I think we may have found something you can fall back on in case journalism doesn't work out for you" he said still groaning.

She slapped him in mock indignation and he smiled.

"You are amazing" he whispered in her ear trying to regain control over his breathing.

He opened his eyes and looked at her studying her face. She was such a surprise. Everything about her. He thought he had her figured out and then the next minute she goes and fascinates him with something completely unexpected.

"What?" she asked sensing he was watching her even though her eyes were closed as she rested next to him.

He smiled.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that I should return your favour" he said suggestively.

"Hmmmm, really? What did you have in mind?" she asked smiling.

"Well" he started and lifted himself repositioning himself on top of her and lowering his voice as he whispered in her ear.

"I could start by sucking on your breasts" she gave a small gasp and exhaled sharply.

"And?" she encouraged him to go on.

He smiled realizing that talking dirty turned her on. That amused him, but it definitely didn't embarrass him. He was the king of talking dirty.

"And then I guess I would have to move on to your pussy…" he said slowly and smiled as she moaned in return "tasting your wet, warm center and dipping my tongue inside of you"

She was panting now, incredibly turned on by him whispering into her ear. She started moving her hips as if she had trouble restraining herself.

It aroused him. Being back in charge once again.

"Do you like that? Me fucking you with my tongue?" he asked, her answer only a moan.

He slid his hand inside her panties finding her clit and starting to rub it.

"Yeah, I know you do. And then I would rub your clit, like this, making it swell and turning you on even more. Do you like that?"

"Ohhhh"

"Yeah, I know you do, because I can feel you becoming wet".

He dipped a finger inside of her and smeared her juices around her clit, resuming his circular motion.

"But I think no matter how hard I fuck you with my tongue or my fingers, all you really want is my dick inside of you... isn't that right?"

She moaned continuously now not only because of the sensations his touch was inducing, but because of his words. She couldn't believe how much his hoarse whispers turned her on. She felt so horny all she wanted to do was have him do all that he was telling her, but she was frozen by his words, wanting to hear him say more.

"Yeah, you love my cock inside of you, don't you? You love me bursting your pussy with my thick, hard dick, don't you? You love as it slams into you hard and long"

He slid two of his fingers in her vagina at this point, making her whimper. She bucked her hips against his hand wanting to feel pressure, to feel him inside of her.

Seeing her turned on by his talking made him aroused again. His member was already hard and stiff and aching to enter her again. He pulled his fingers out of her, her juices covering them. She whimpered in protest.

"Do you want me inside?" he asked as she thrust her hips up trying to make him reenter her. She moaned.

"Do you want my dick inside of you?" he asked again, demanding.

"Yes" she whispered breathlessly.

"Say it" he hissed totally turned on.

"I want your dick"

"What do you want?" he teased.

"I want you to fuck me" she whined.

"I can't hear you"

"Fuck me" she hissed.

He was losing his mind. He saw her waiting for him to come and please her and it turned him on so much he could not control himself.

"Turn around" he ordered and she obeyed getting on her hands and knees.

He moved behind her and yanked her panties off helping them off her legs. She was whimpering, pushing her ass towards him begging for him to enter. Instead he leaned over and licked her center with one stroke of his tongue making her jump at the sudden contact. He slid his tongue inside her as she moaned, his hands grasping her ass. She trembled in pleasure cursing as she went wild with want.

"Fuck me. NOW" she cried, her rush apparent.

It was all he could do to resist.

He straightened himself behind her and entered his member in her wetness in one long stroke groaning as he felt her soft pussy around him. He held her hips with his hands and pulled out almost entirely in a painfully slow motion. She tried to move her ass to force him inside of her but he held her strong. She realized he was torturing her.

"Pleeeeease" she pleaded "just fuck me!" she said whimpering and he finally gave her what she wanted slamming into her hard.

She moaned and gasped as she felt him slam into her again and again, his strokes long and hard. His cock was buried so deep inside her it sent a sharp pain through her, but she didn't care it was giving her so much pleasure. She was screaming with every one of his thrusts and as he sped up, her voice came out in one continuous moan.

She came fast and hard, her orgasm rumbling through her body, her mouth unable to hold back her scream of pleasure. He didn't stop pounding her wanting his own release and his continuous offensive on her prolonged her orgasm with long seconds. She finally collapsed as he was still thrusting hard into her.

Her pussy tightening with her orgasm and then her pose shifting as she collapsed increased the pressure on his cock finally sending him over the edge. With one final thrust he came, his sperm flowing out of her pussy.

He collapsed on top of her, panting hard. He slipped out of her and pulled her into his body curling up around her.

They fell asleep in exhaustion.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She opened her eyes slowly and tried to identify the light noise coming from the corner.

It was still dark, she looked at the clock by her bed and saw it was 4:12 A.M.

Suddenly memories came rushing back to her. The argument, his office, then the cab and her bedroom.

Her eyes were slowly adjusting and she could make out his form. He was getting dressed.

She didn't know what to think. She sat there in her bed and tried to guess what the hell was going through his mind. Was he making a run for it? Did he think it was a mistake? He probably did. After all it was... it was stupid! God, what was she thinking? Clearly she wasn't thinking at all.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you" his voice startled her.

She was so immersed in thought she hadn't realized he was standing in front of her bed, fully clothed now, staring at her.

"You were just gonna leave" it was more a statement, than a question, slight reproach in her voice.

He sighed when he realized how she could have misunderstood that. He moved closer to the bed but stopped when he saw her pulling the covers higher to cover herself. That movement shocked him.

"I-I have to go back to the hotel to change before I go to the office" he said in a low voice, uncertain.

"Right" she said letting out a long breath.

"Rory" he said, his voice soft and pleading.

She was getting out of the bed now, her movements swift, wrapping the covers around her body and rubbing her eyes with one hand.

"I"ll let you out" she said, her voice distant.

She started for the bedroom door but his hand suddenly caught hers and pulled her back into his arms. She resisted for only a second. He pulled her into a hug and stood there for a moment as if he was trying to collect his thoughts. Then he started whispering in her ear, his voice so low she had to hold her breath to be able to understand.

"Are you trying to convince yourself it was a mistake? Or that I might think that? Because I don't. It happened, and it was incredible and I did not regret a thing, so don't spoil this, okay? I have no idea what's gonna happen, I really don't, but I know as long as you give me the benefit of the doubt, it will work itself out."

She didn't answer, she just let him hold her inhaling his smell and feeling his warm body against her skin.

"I'll see you in a couple of hours, okay?" he said and lifted her chin with his hand.

She sighed and and looked up slowly at him mouthing "okay".

He smiled relieved and kissed her gently at first, then deepening the kiss as he felt her soft lips open. He slowly broke the kiss and groaned resting his forehead against hers.

"Okay, maybe I could stay a little while longer"

She let out a small chuckle and moved away pulling him by the hand towards the hall.

She let him out of the apartment and gave him another kiss at the door.

She closed the door quietly and leaned her back against it.

Somehow, she felt calm. She wondered what changed, or why he had the ability to calm her down with a whisper and a kiss. She didn't know the answer. All she knew was that she was exhausted and there was still 87 minutes of sleep she could catch before she had to get up. She fell asleep effortlessly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The calmness seemed to vanish when she stepped into the office building.

It all seemed so unreal seeing the place in daylight, knowing what happened there just a couple of hours ago. She felt like everyone at the office knew about what happened. Which was silly of course, no one could have known. But she felt they probably read it off her face.

She was uneasy and fidgeted with her hair and was rambling. God she needed to calm herself.

It didn't help much that she hasn't seen him yet. She was expecting to bump into him any moment and looked up nervously every two seconds.

Where was he anyway? He hasn't missed a morning meeting since he's been here. But today he wasn't here.

She was inattentive, absent-minded during the whole meeting and ended it as fast as she could. She walked to her desk and sat down, restless in her seat.

She kept her reporter's desk even after she was made editor. Simply because she felt like it would have been pretentious to move into an office. She felt like her coworkers were her family and wanted to be close to the action, didn't want to be left out. It was her first time as editor when she would have appreciated some privacy.

Her phone's ringing disturbed her.

"Yeah" she answered trying to focus.

"Hey, it's Kate. Mr. Huntzberger's expecting you in his office"

She froze.

So he was in the office.

Okay.

So much for trying to focus.

She got up and walked towards his office, greeting Kate on the way. She knocked lightly on his door and entered.

He was sitting at his desk and looked up.

"Editor Gilmore. Please come in"

She was taken aback for a spilt second but realized they were not alone. A man was standing next to Logan's desk and smiled at her as she walked in.

"This is Mick Glant, he is here to show us some drafts for the new format. This is Rory Gilmore, our editor".

Rory smiled and shook hands with the man not looking at Logan. She couldn't hide her uneasiness. She wondered how he did it, he seemed so unaffected, so cool. For a second it crossed her mind that maybe it was just a one night thing for him, and he already moved on pretending nothing happened. But she shooed off those thoughts.

Focus, she told herself, stop behaving like a friggin' schoolgirl and act like a professional.

She turned her attention to the drafts on his desk as the guy explained about them. She touched the drafts and pulled them closer one by one.

Logan moved closer to her and was looking at the drafts also. But she didn't miss him stealing glances at her.

This made her smile on the inside.

So he wasn't unaffected after all. She felt more confident already. She touched his hand with hers, but pulled away right away as if the whole thing were an accident. She could see his eyebrow shoot up and a smile form on his lips he was pretending to concentrate on the drafts.

"Choice number one resembles the current format, but with a little edge to it. It's a safe choice if you want to inform your readers of a development but don't want to alienate them" the man was explaining, oblivious to the other's two wordless rivalry "the other two are more risky, but more up to date with the current trends"

"I am liking number three" Logan said and looked at Rory.

"That's an excellent choice Mr. Huntzberger, I am partial to three myself" said the man.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Rory said not even looking up from the drafts.

The man looked at her surprised, while Logan just sighed.

"Care to elaborate?" he asked.

"The point of this whole format change is to express a change, a development of the paper. Not a total reconstruction. Changing the whole format at the same time the owner's changed would give the impression that it is a completely different paper, completely different views, no connection to the old issues. Might as well give it a new name and start a whole new newspaper." she said, lifting her gaze at the two men and smiling an innocent smile.

"Maybe it's not a bad idea, I think Herald Star is a ridiculously dumb name anyway" Logan said not missing a beat and returning her smile.

"Well it's yours to rename if you want to lose your readers" she shot back.

"I don't know editor, I don't think there are many to lose at this point" he said with a mock sigh.

"It was a pretty dumb deal to make then, buying it up" came her reply.

The guy was looking from one to the other and cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Maybe I should leave you two to discuss this"

"Yeah why don't you do that Mick and I'll get back to you" said Logan not taking his eyes off of Rory, his smile still on his face.

The guy hurried out of the room and gave a confused farewell.

The two stared at each other for another moment.

"Are you trying to turn me on?" he suddenly said, his smirk growing. He got up to approach her.

"You are delusional Mr. Huntzberger" she said, smiling while taking a step back.

"You're probably right" he said agreeing while reaching her and pulling her in for a passionate kiss.

"I missed you" he whispered when finally breaking away.

"Really? Well that's understandable, it's been three whole hours since you've seen me" she said in mock seriousness.

"Yeah? It seemed like three days" he said kissing his way down her neck.

She let out a small moan.

"I gotta go work" she said trying to make him stop.

"You work for me, I say you take a breather" he said continuing his ministrations.

She giggled and tried again to push him away.

"Oh c'mon Ace, give me five minutes" he protested.

She pushed him away slightly. Then leaned in and licked his ear sending shivers down his spine.

"Fine" she said and sucked on his earlobe "you get five minutes and I get draft number one".

He laughed out loud hearing her offer.

"Don't you think that's a bit unfair?" he asked.

"No, I think that's perfectly fair" she said as she pulled away and started walking towards the door "you know where to find me if you change your mind" she said flashing him a blinding smile and strolling out the door.

He groaned smiling as he slumped into his chair.


	7. Founders, keepers

She was sitting at her desk, reading over an article, completely immersed in thought and picked up the phone absent-minded when she couldn't ignore the ringing anymore.

"We have a breaking story in the boss's office! Mr. Huntzberger actually passed out from lack of blood flow to his brain due to a massive erection caused by thinking about last night's activities."

Rory rolled her eyes as she identified the voice.

"You really are two years old, you know."

"That's not what you said last night"

"Stop" she lowered her voice and looked around nervously as if someone might hear.

"If I remember correctly..." he went on, amusement in his voice.

"Seriously stop" she was whispering by now.

"...it was something along the lines of..." he stopped for a dramatic pause and continued in a seductive voice "fuck me now, please"

Rory was covering her eyes now, blushing.

"Okay, you remind me one more time, and you'll never hear anything of the like" she said taking a deep breath "and now if you'll excuse me, I have a paper to edit"

"No wait, hold on, I actually had something to talk about" he said changing his tone completely.

She was surprised just how easily he could switch from one gear to another.

"Who's this Charles Hay kid?"

Rory stopped for a second, processing his words. She already knew this was going to be uncomfortable.

"He's ... he's this new kid, just graduated from Yale, he started working here last year"

"Yeah, well he sucks" Logan stated matter of factly "get rid of him. I read through his stuff that he's done since last year and I don't see any progress"

"Logan, let's just give him a bit more time, okay? He's totally new at this"

"Ace, this isn't a charity program here, he either delivers, or we let him go, he hasn't been delivering and your paper is not in the position to employ people just because they're very fond of ..." he trailed of as he was holding the kid's work in his hands, "cheese... Seriously a complete report on the cheese fair?"

Rory rolled her eyes again and sighed.

"Okay, listen, that was a slow week and the cheese fair is actually a pretty big deal" she argued but gave up seeing it was useless "okay, I didn't want to give him a more important topic, okay? The kid sucks. But he is a graduate of Yale, god he has gotta be able to do something readable. How am I gonna fire someone who just graduated? That is just mean."

"Rory" he started, but she cut him off, already knowing what he was going to say.

"Hey, look, he is working on something good now, so let's just wait for him to hand that in and let's get back to this in a couple of days, okay?"

She heard him sigh at the other end of the line.

"You get three days. And you're coming to the Founders' Ball with me tomorrow"

"Wait, what, hold on!" she jabbered rerunning his words in her head "What are you talking about?"

"Founders' Ball at the Museum of Modern Art, tomorrow, 7 o'clock. I need a date"

"Well, I can't, I will probably still be at work and ..." she said looking for reasons to give him.

"Ace. I'm your boss. You're coming. It's PR stuff, gotta charm the money people."

"I take it I actually have to wear a dress to this thing?" she asked annoyed.

"Yeah, this you have to wear a dress to. Anything else you do with me, you can do naked"

She rolled her eyes one more time and hung up the phone sighing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Logan stood in her bedroom in his tux and was examining her room, looking at pictures on the wall, reading the titles of books stashed on her shelves. He stopped to look at one particular picture with Rory, looking young and innocent with a woman who had the exact same eyes Rory did.

"Is this your mom?"

"What?" he heard her from the bathroom.

"Is this your mom?" he repeated holding out the picture for her to see as she poked her head out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, uhm, yeah... I'm just gonna be a minute, I am sorry"

"Need any help?" he asked with a smirk.

"Nooooo" she protested "I think you've helped enough already which is the reason we are running late right now"

"Oh c'mon Ace, I don't know what you're talking about" he said innocently, thinking of the incredible sex the two just had in between the hall and her bedroom. Seeing her in her tight black strapless dress, stilettos and her hair up in loose curls made him go absolutely wild, he just had to have her right away.

Rory was now in the bathroom trying to fix the damage done to her hair and makeup.

He moved onto her desk examining the objects and looked at her laptop that was opened.

"Okay I am done" she said, hurrying out of the bathroom and getting her coat off her bed.

"What's this?" he asked seriously, not taking his eyes off of the screen.

Rory looked up and saw what he was looking at. Without thinking twice about it, she stepped over to the desk and closed the laptop.

"Come on, let's go, we're late as it is"

"You're rewriting his story" he said looking at her now.

"Logan, can we not have this conversation right now?"

"No." he was determined, looking at her with eyes sparkling.

"You are rewriting that kid's story so I won't fire him" he stated, not even bothering to make it a question.

She looked at him, not saying anything, as if accepting a verdict.

"Rory, that's plagiarism" he said seriously.

She took a deep breath and headed out into her living room as she talked:

"I really thought you'd know the definition of plagiarism Logan, being in journalism and all. It can't be plagiarism if it's with my consent" she said annoyed, trying to avoid the argument.

He was walking after her, determined to not to let this slip.

"Don't divert the attention, Rory, you are writing the article so I won't fire him"

"I am lending him a hand, okay?" she blurted out turning to face him "just so I can buy him a little time"

"What the hell for?" he asked raising his voice "he's magically going to turn into a good writer if you buy him another couple of weeks? How long were you gonna do this? You think I wouldn't notice?"

She sighed and put her coat on while she listened to him go on. She took her purse and started out the front door. He stopped her as she opened the door.

"Why are you doing this?" he said, his voice more quiet again, looking at her intently.

"I am trying to help a kid who's starting out, why is that such a crime?"

"It's a crime because you are doing something that's not good for the paper and you are putting an extra load on yourself"

"I can handle it" she said and stepped outside. He followed her and shut the door. She was already down the stairs trying to wave down a cab. Clearly she was avoiding going into this further. He studied her for a second.

"Being an editor isn't sacrificing yourself for your coworkers, Rory. Them liking you isn't going to make you better at your job" he said, his voice more quiet. She could hear him though. She turned around.

"Oh, so you think I am not good at my job?" she asked indignant.

"I am saying you go out of your way to protect people when you should be more worried about what's good for the paper"

She stood there without being able to say anything with a look of hurt and sadness in her eyes. He stepped closer to her.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

She looked up confused, not understanding.

"Why are you doing this job?" he specified. She just stared at him, her breathing shallow.

He stepped even closer, so all he had to do was whisper for her to hear.

"You don't like this. This is not what you wanted to do, right?" he paused "You don't like the politics of this, or the handholding or tackling practical questions. You like the writing, you never wanted to do editing. You just sort of was expected to do it, right?"

She stood there staring into nothing, and he swore he could see tears forming in her eyes for a second. But she took a breath and looked at him.

"I have to do this, because it's my job. I accepted it and I promised to do my best. And that's what I am going to do. If I manage to find time to help people who need help and that doesn't interfere with my work, then you can't have a problem with that" her voice was steady, but it still felt like she was pleading with herself more than with him.

"It's important to me, because this paper is important to me. For you it might just be a business venture. For me it's a group of people, something that I gave my heart and soul into for the past six years, something that's worth fighting for."

She looked up at him, her blue eyes shining and sparkling. The sound of her voice sent shivers down his spine.

"Okay" he said, almost just mouthing the word and he wrapped his arms around her. She melted into his arms like it was a shelter and suddenly, he didn't care about everything but making her feel safe and warm.

She looked up and kissed him passionately making him forget everything.

She moved in close, pressing her body against his and resting her head on his shoulder. She slid her hands under his coat and rested them on his ass, pulling him even closer. He groaned at the contact.

He knew she was trying her best to change the subject, make him forget about this whole topic. He didn't like to be manipulated, but he had to admit, she had talent at diverting his thoughts. It amazed him how fast she could turn him on, he already felt his arousal growing.  
He heard her giggling in his ear as she noticed his arousal.

"You cannot be serious" she joked "we had sex, what, 20 minutes ago?"

"It's all your fault, I have nothing to do with it" he smiled, happy but that uneasy feeling in his stomach still.

He made a mental note to figure this out. He kissed the top of her head and raised his hand to wave off a cab still holding onto her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Well this is an utter bore, she thought to herself standing next to the bar looking over the herds of people dressed in their fancy gowns and jewelry.

Logan seemed to move through the crowd effortlessly, making small talk and greeting every important person. It amused her to watch him. She could tell he's had practice.

Of course she knew all the rules too, having been introduced to society by her grandparents, but she didn't have to bother about all that since she's started working. It was made clear that her goal in life wasn't to attend functions and chat with ladies, but to work for her dreams. She tried her best nevertheless, smiling politely and conversing with people Logan introduced her to.

They had been there for a couple of hours now and she stopped counting the number of times she danced with "important" people and was introduced to even more important society ladies.

She was sipping a drink thanking the heavens that at least there was an open bar.

"Getting drunk again?" his voice startled her. She turned around to face him.

"I am not carrying you home again, you know" he said snickering as he reached for a glass of wine.

"Really? Does this mean I have to pick up someone else to do that for me tonight?" she said not missing a beat and looking around examining the room "Mr. Gifford seemed more than eager to"

"Are you serious? That old bastard" Logan turned around trying to locate the gentleman.

He turned back to her.

"How you holding up?" he said, his voice affectionate.

"Oh please, this is nothing Emily Gilmore did not prep me for" she said with a scoff taking another sip from her drink.

"Emily?"

"My grandmother. Big hair, Channel costume, crazy for a good charity function"

"You've just described half of the room here" he smiled.

"Logan! Logan my darling!" they heard someone shrieking through the room. Rory saw an old lady making her way through the room towards them.

"Jesus" Rory exclaimed seeing the determination in the old lady's eyes.

"Oh good lord, Mrs. Hayworth" he sighed under his breath forcing a smile on his face "I say you make a run for it" he said to her under his breath. Rory looked at him thankfully and she turned to make her way towards the restrooms.

She sighed as she closed the door behind her. She walked into one of the stalls and closing the lid sat down to take a breather. She couldn't believe how exhausting wearing a fake smile for hours was.

She enjoyed the silence of the restroom, but her refuge wasn't long lived. She heard a couple of people coming through the door chattering casually.

"Can you believe the dress Dana is wearing? Oh my god, it must be three sizes too small"

Rory rolled her eyes hearing the annoying voice and decided to leave, she froze when she heard the next comment.

"And who's that girl Logan Huntzberger showed up with? I've never seen her"

"Oh, she is an editor" the girl said, putting an emphasis on the word 'editor'. Rory's eyebrow shot up in surprise.

"Ohhhhhhh, an editor. God, he sure likes them"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, remember when he dated that editor in Chicago?"

"For like two weeks"

"Yeah, well that's a world record for Logan"

"How long were you dating him?"

"Three days, four nights" the girl said suggestively, then they all laughed.

"Anyways. He doesn't look that into this new one. I give her a week."

"Oh please, he just probably didn't have anything better to do with his free time, I doubt it will last a week"

Rory listened stunned as the girls exited the restroom.

Her heart seemed to swell in her chest.

She was rerunning scenes in her head now.

How did this whole thing happen in the first place? And what was she thinking? Logan seemed like someone who'd do this all the time, someone who probably did do this all the time. But her? This was so unlike her. She didn't just jump into relationships that were undefined, she didn't do things without thinking. She made lists for god's sake!

She suddenly felt silly and childish. God, what was she thinking.

But then he seemed so honest and so passionate and eager. Was he just playing a role?

God, you gotta stop obsessing about this, she told herself as she got up and walked out of the stall.

She looked at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath.

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey. I've been looking everywhere for you. I was worried Mrs. Hayworth got to you" he said smirking, but his smile became unsure as he saw her awkward smile.

"Is everything okay?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm just tired" she said trying to seem unaffected.

"Well, let's go then"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I think we've had enough boredom and chitchat for the evening" he said and lowered his voice "we should go have some fun"

Rory looked at him, her blue eyes clouded. She was staring as though she was trying to decipher his words, find a hidden meaning. He noticed.

"What is it?"

"What are we doing?" she suddenly asked, her voice determined.

"I beg your pardon?"

"What are we doing?" she repeated, slower as if she were talking to a child.

He started to feel uneasy. Once again, her mood changed suddenly. He wished he could understand or see the reasons behind it. But he was clueless.

"What are you worried about exactly?" he asked sighing, his voice more quiet and serious.

"Logan, we met, what? 5 days ago and it's been a whirlwind and I just don't see where this is going or what we're doing right now" she was jabbering, looking at the floor, her eyes moving from one spot to another.

He was painfully aware of their surroundings.

"Jesus" he whispered under his breath and took her by the hand as he walked towards the exit.

They got their coats in silence and Rory could see the troubled expression he had on. For a moment she cursed herself for saying anything, for bringing it up at all, but she didn't have time to ponder because he already lead her out into the street and they were walking on the sidewalk. He didn't stop but started talking in a low voice all the while guiding her with his hand behind her back.

"I don't know where this all came from Rory, and I certainly don't know what you want me to say. Did I do anything?"

She stopped and looked at him, regretting her outburst.

"No, it's just that..." she didn't have a chance to finish because he cut her off.

"What? Look, I don't know what this is, I haven't planned it, and I know that might be irresponsible, but I am sorry. I was drawn to you and I can't think straight when you are around, god help me, I wish I could, because you drive me fucking crazy. I feel like I have to fight you every ten minutes just because you have a mood swing and I don't follow, I'm sorry. If you're uncertain, undecided, I understand, so am I, but god, must you take it all out on me? I don't know what we are doing, I really don't, I don't know what to tell you, but I am sick of you blaming me for the things you're feeling"

She stood there listening to him, seeing the passion in his eyes and sensing the hurt in his voice. She wanted to let him know she was sorry, to let him know it's all okay, but he seemed so upset, she didn't know how to respond. This last thing he said really hit home. She stood there acknowledging everything, not knowing what to say.

"Let me get you a cab" his voice was distant, irrevocable and she could do nothing else but follow him as he waved off a cab.

He guided her in in silence.

"I'll talk to you later" he said, not even looking at her and already turning to walk away.

She felt a lump in her throat and watched him walk away as the cab sped off.


	8. Pros and cons

It was late. He was tired and in a horrible mood.

He's just walked 12 blocks back to his hotel, not wanting to sit in a cab. The cool air felt nice against his skin and he needed to feel like he was doing something, not just sitting in one place.

He didn't realize how cold it really was outside, and he shivered a bit as he stepped into the hotel lobby.

He hated it. Hated living in hotels. He couldn't remember the last time he stayed in one place long enough to actually own a place. He missed it. He hated living out of a suitcase, but he was reluctant to stay at the family residencies, which they owned in pretty much all the important towns. So he stayed in hotels, where the rooms looked the same and were preserved only as a blur in his memories.

He stepped into the elevator to ride to his floor and suddenly he was reminded of his dream. The thing that has started it all. Or was that really it? He couldn't make it out anymore. Was it her eyes the first time he saw her? Was it the first time they talked? He couldn't grasp it. As he could grasp nothing else about her. Why he was so drawn to her, why he was so affected. And why he felt like shit right now. He stepped out of the elevator and walked towards his room, digging in his pockets to find the key.

He stopped dead in his track as he saw her sitting there at his doorsteps in her black dress.

She noticed him and got up.

"Hey" she said lightly.

He couldn't answer, he just stared.

She took it as a sign and took a deep breath.

"Okay, so I am crazy. I am a nutcase and I make ugly scenes and you are probably sorry you ever got involved in the first place, and I am sorry, sorry about everything, and I am not going to make excuses or explain myself or try to change your mind, I understand you perfectly. I just wanted you to know that I am not blaming you. Not blaming you for anything, I was just shocked. That I could feel this way. And uncertain because it seemed to happen so fast, and I made a list, and I..."

"You made a list?" his sudden reaction stopped her in her rambling. He was looking at her intently, and she couldn't read his reaction.

"Yeah, I do that, I make lists, pro-con, you know" she trailed off, looking at the floor in embarrassment.

"Okay. Tell me." his voice was calm, free of all emotions.

She looked at him uncertain not knowing what to do.

"Tell you?"

"The pros and cons"

"Well" she started "you are my boss. And I don't know you too well. The whole situation with the paper is awkward" she stopped for a second, then continued "And this is all very sudden. And you seem like someone who seduces someone else every other week" she blurted that last one out "At least that's what I heard from the powder-squad in the bathroom at the function tonight".

He sighed at this, realizing what was really behind her outburst tonight.

"And you use too much hairstyling products." she added, trying to lighten the mood.

He stood there staring at the floor, processing everything she said.

"I take it, those are the cons"

She took a breath of relief, she was almost expecting him to walk away, and his words seemed to give her some hope.

"So what are the pros?" he asked looking up.

"Well" she took a deep breath trying to calm herself but she was already blushing violently "uhm, you always seem to know the right thing to say" she started, looking at the floor in embarrassment "You are very convincing, and you make me forget the things that bother me. And you point out things that I tried to forget were bothering me. Although that might actually be a con" she trailed off again. She looked up trying to read his reaction, but she couldn't say for sure. Se continued dropping her gaze again.

"You turn me on incredibly" she was blushing again "And you are incredible... in... you know... God, this is stupid" she sighed, covering her face.

"I sort of liked it" he said as he stepped up to her. She looked up, hearing him approach her.

"I'm sorry..." she started whispering, but he stopped her.

"Shut up" he said determined as he leaned in to kiss her, his passion definite once again.

He didn't care it was all difficult, he didn't care that it was worse than a roller coaster ride. All he cared about was taking that ache away, that vacancy that he felt inside of him since the minute she pulled away in that cab. He never felt like this before, never felt so attached, so powerless and so invigorated all at once. He kissed her with all his heart and savoured her taste, the touch of her lips, the feeling of her against his body.

It felt as though it had been ages since they kissed. Their bodies were longing for each other, wanting to feel the other. He lead her into his room, back to the bedroom and pulled her onto the bed.

He took his shirt off and climbed on top of her, caressing her face and kissing her not being able to break away for a second. Her scent drove him crazy, made him want to taste her and feel her skin against his.

He unzipped her dress and pulled it off of her staring at her beautiful white skin. He planted kisses on her body starting from her neck and making his way lower. At the same time he freed her of her bra and pulled off her panties.

She seemed different, so much calmer. Their times together so far have been wild and passionate, with an uncontrollable desire. But now, she let him explore her, caress her, get lost in her. It was without any rush.

He looked down at her, laying there naked and beautiful and he was shocked at his own feelings. He has never felt anything like this before. Not just desiring someone physically, but needing her, wanting her. He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her scent.

"You are so gorgeous" he whispered in her ear, barely audible, not being able to express himself.

He could swear he was trembling as he undid his pants and came back to lie on her naked.

He looked at her face, her eyes warm and inviting. He watched her as he entered her slowly, saw her close her eyes as she felt him fill her up. She let out a little sigh and he could see that she had goosebumps forming on her arms. That sight drove him crazy, knowing he made her feel that way.

He started moving in and out of her, slowly, wanting to savour every moment, watching her every reaction.

She felt incredible, warm and tight and wet.

"God, you feel incredible" he sighed, not being able to contain himself. She moaned in response and he stared in amazement at her face. With her eyes closed, he could see her enjoyment.

She lifted her legs, wrapping them around his waist, giving him more access, and raised her hips to meet his strong thrusts. The friction made him go wild. He was gasping as he thrust into her. It took all his strength to control himself and his movements. He was cursing softly under his breath, his body tensing.

She felt his agony and encouraged him wrapping her arms around him, pulling him closer, and raising her hips even more, so he could go as deep as possible. He groaned at the sensation.

"Come on" she whispered in his ears encouraging him to speed up and it was all he could do. His thrusts became stronger, faster and she was moaning loud now, making him loose all control.

He felt her nails digging into his back and heard her panting faster, then felt her contracting around him as she gasped and clutched his neck. He felt her whole body tremble and she moaned loud as she came. He stared at her face wide eyed and thrust into her hard, coming as well, groaning her name.

He collapsed on top of her holding onto her tight. He opened his eyes once more to study her face. She laid there with a smile, still taken over. He kissed her on the lips, making her smile grow wider and buried his face in her hair.

Making love to her like this was so different. It's like they finally gave up fighting, gave up competing or trying to prove a point.

And it was new in another way too. New for him at least. It felt intimate, it felt easy. It was all very new to him, but he liked it. He suddenly realized that he felt at ease, lying there with her. It was a calmness, a sort of peace he hasn't felt... well, he couldn't even remember ever feeling like this. It just felt right.

He opened his eyes and stared at her face, still flushed, eyes closed.

"I like you, Rory Gilmore" he said slowly, his voice still hoarse.

She opened her eyes and gave a chuckle turning to face him.

"You LIKE me?" she repeated amused "Really? Well who would have thought?"

He smiled closing his eyes, his body still exhausted.

"Yeah" he said with a happy grin on his face.

"So wait, does that give my name emphasis in your little black book?" she asked sarcastically.

He groaned repositioning himself on his stomach and burying his face in a pillow.

"I thought we were over this" his annoyed voice came muffled from the pillow.

She gave another silent chuckle seeing his frustration but decided she hasn't had her fun yet.

"This means at least two more dates, right? That would put me in the lead, I believe the record holder has a week under her belt, I'm not sure, the restroom had horrible acoustics, I couldn't quite make it out"

He sighed listening to her rambling and turned to face her again.

"For God's sake, it was a stupid society function, woman. People don't have anything better to do than gossip about everyone else. You don't have to believe everything they say"

"Oh, so you are saying you are actually all innocent and you haven't dated, and I quote 'an armada of women just in the past year'?" she replied, her face in a victorious smile.

"No that's not what I said, I said you don't have to believe everything they say" he said, his voice suddenly more serious, his eyes fixed on hers.

She looked at him sensing his intention to convince her.

She sighed. And suddenly realized it didn't matter. It didn't matter what he was like with others. Or how many others there were. All that mattered was that he made her feel incredible, right here, right now. And really, anything he has experienced with anyone before this, lead him here, to be the man he is now, which is what she was mesmerized by. So really, what did it matter?

"I don't" she said simply.

He smiled.

"Good" he said pulling her closer "now, that will get you another three dates" he said as he smirked.

"Actual dates or you having your way on top of your desk?" she quipped.

"You didn't seem to mind today"

"No, but it does make working less efficient. Plus, it is surely against company policy" she teased.

"Yeah, I'm afraid it is" he groaned again in content "We'll have to modify company policy"

"Really?" her eyebrow shot up seductively.

"Yeah" he murmured "We'll have to add an 'erection clause'."

"An erection clause?" she repeated, her voice full of amusement.

"Yeah, it should be stated that all policies can be overruled if I have an erection" he said with a straight face.

"That seems to happen a lot" she pointed out.

"Are you kidding me, it seems like I am in a constant state of arousal since I met you" he said pulling her close again kissing her neck.

She laughed out loud.

"Yeah, I've noticed. How is that even possible?" she asked.

"Haven't a clue" he said shrugging his shoulders and continuing kissing her.

She laughed again.

"You know what I love most about sex?" she suddenly asked.

He stopped what he was doing, surprised at the question and looked down on her smirking.

"Geeez, let me try and guess" he said amused.

She slapped him playfully and tried to fake reproach. He couldn't hide his amusement, but he was certainly curious.

"Tell me, Ace what do you love most about sex?" he said succumbing as he rolled on top of her and started smoothing away the strands of hair from her face.

"This" she said.

He looked at her in question, trying to figure out what she meant.

She cleared her throat a bit and went on:

"This.. this thing after it's over... the talking... how everyone lets their guards down. The way it's honest, everyone is honest and not putting up a front"

He stared at her face comprehending her words and agreeing in silence. Then a smile grew upon his face.

"I don't know Ace, maybe you just got really lucky with the men you slept with" he smirked.

"Yeah, maybe I did" she gave up, agreeing.


	9. Mr Huntzberger, I presume?

She walked into the office and could barely hide her smile.

The weekend had been incredible. She felt rested and energized, and well... she couldn't stop smiling at the thought of the two of them.

They didn't leave his hotel room for the whole weekend, but talked and ate and slept and read and well... there was a certain amount of sex as well.

She giggled lost in thought. Looking up she saw a couple of coworkers staring at her.

She made a mental note to keep it together. She had work to do after all.

Her staff meeting was the usual. Once again he was not present, but that was probably a good thing. She probably would have blushed her way through the whole meeting feeling his eyes on herself.

She walked back to her desk and sat down, focusing on the stash of articles piled up in front of her.

Her phone rang and she picked up answering it.

"Mr. Huntzberger is here and would like to meet you" she heard Kate's voice "Are you free now?"

She rolled her eyes in amusement. He got in and called her straight to his office? It was only a couple of hours she left his hotel room to go back home to change for work.

She smiled and answered:

"Yeah, I'll be right there"

She walked over to his office and past Kate noticing her being especially nervous today.

She pondered this, looking back on her while she pushed his door open.

"So lover boy, does this mean you have an urgent erection that needs to be dealt with?" she cooed as she walked into his office.

She froze dead in her tracks as she saw his preoccupied face looking up in shock and a man sitting in front of his desk. The man slowly turned to face her with an astonished look on his face. She started blushing violently, staring at the ground in embarrassment and she felt like she was actually going to faint.

She recognized the man, she's seen enough pictures of him. He was Mitchum Huntzberger.

"Ms. Gilmore" she heard Logan, hesitant and slightly disturbed "this is my father, Mitchum Huntzberger. He came to check on the progress."

Mitchum got up from his seat and turned to her, obviously pleased at the fact that she was as embarrassed as humanly possible. He shook her hand with a wide grin and greeted her:

"Ms. Gilmore, I've heard so much about you" he paused an glanced towards his son "Obviously not everything".

Rory's face turned an even deeper shade of red and Logan closed his eyes silently cursing.

She mumbled some sort of a greeting and sat down in another chair, offered to her by Mitchum.

They all sat, Mitchum glancing from one to the other and Rory still staring at the ground.

Logan sighed and tried to break the silence.

"Well, we were just looking over some of the changes we've made and I think there is nothing urgent to discuss. We should probably let you go do your job, editor" he looked at his father, his gaze intense as if he were trying to control the man.

He knew his dad, he was going to have a field day with this, but he was trying to spare Rory.

Mitchum seemed to agree.

"Yes of course, I am quite sure you are busy. I just wanted to introduce myself"

Rory managed to look up and steady her composure. She smiled and said:

"Of course, Mr. Huntzberger. It was a pleasure to meet you" she lied and got up to walk out of the room.

She was practically running by the time she closed the door behind her. On her way past Kate's desk she shot her a deadly glare. How could she not warn her?

But then again she probably didn't know Rory would burst in saying something completely inappropriate.

She frowned as she walked out into the newsroom thinking of ways to kill herself.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"You are screwing the editor?" Mitchum asked in disbelief, grinning from ear to ear.

Logan rubbed his eyes and sighed prepping himself for the conversation they were about to have.

Having Mitchum barge in on him unannounced was bad enough. And this whole fiasco with Rory definitely didn't help things either.

"You've been here a week and you are screwing the editor" Mitchum said amused.

"Dad" Logan said annoyed.

"Don't get me wrong, she is a nice looking girl and all..." he went on.

"Dad" Logan repeated trying to make him stop "Can we focus on work?"

"Sure. Let's focus on work" he said, leaning back in his chair, studying his son "Focusing on work is good, maybe you should do that yourself."

Logan shot him a glare.

"I am doing my job, what I am doing in my spare time is none of your concern" he spat out.

"Really? Well if your spare time involves you 'doing' your editor, it is of my concern since it does seem to influence your job" his voice became serious suddenly. His smile was gone and he looked determined.

"I don't know what you mean" Logan replied, his voice low.

"You've been here a week. I wanted to shut this whole thing down, this paper is nothing but competition for the rest of our publications, there is no point in keeping it alive if it's a loss maker, but all week long you're telling me you want to keep it going and make it work. You just haven't been telling me why."

"This has nothing to do with me and Rory" Logan said.

Mitchum's brow shot up hearing him referring to her by her first name.

"Are you sure?" he asked and paused.

"Because the way I see it, you haven't gotten half of your changes through. First that serial, then these half-witted interns and now you're telling me you are going with a different format than we've agreed on..."

Logan cut him off.

"The serial has been taken care of and there will definitely be changes in the staff. As far as the format change, I reconsidered it and I am convinced this would actually be a better format if we didn't want to alienate the considerate amount of readers the paper already has."

"Convinced by whom?" he interrupted, leaning back again.

Logan took a deep breath.

"Look" he said, bargaining with him "let's wait some more, look at the numbers again and take it from there. There is no point trying to make this personal".

He looked at his father determined and Mitchum knew there was no point in arguing further. But he couldn't resist dropping another cynical comment:

"Yeah, definitely no point in making it personal. Well. I will be in town for this week for business anyway. We'll talk some more" he said while getting up from his chair.

Logan stood up as well and watched as he walked towards the door.

"Don't hurt yourself working too hard" he heard him sneer as he closed the door behind him.

Logan slumped back into his chair and closed his eyes sighing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

She has been staring at his office door for at least fifteen minutes now. Her mind was racing.

He's been in there all day long, not coming out for a second and it was already past 10 P.M.

This is crazy, she thought to herself as she got up and walked in his office's direction. Kate was already gone and she stopped in front of his door, taking a deep breath.

She knocked on the door. He heard an answer and she slid into his room. He was stooping over his desk looking through pieces of paper and looked up confused as she entered.

"Hey" she said shyly.

"Hey" came his reply as he glanced at the clock on the wall. "Jesus, it's late. I hadn't noticed."

He looked tired, she thought. She walked up to his desk and sat in a chair, still uneasy.

Logan looked at her and suddenly realizing they haven't spoken all day he said:

"Sorry about this morning"

"Yeah, how about a 'heads up' next time?" she said forcing out a wry smile.

He just sighed in return.

"You've been working all day" she said trying to get him to talk about it.

"Yeah, I'm a bit swamped."

"Is everything okay?"

He looked up as if he were contemplating whether or not to go into the whole conversation.

"Yeah. Just trying to make ends meet. There's a couple of things we have to take care of"

"Like what?"

He sighed.

"Just some reorganizing and some questions about the staff and..." he trailed off. He talked as though it took him a lot of effort to formulate the words.

"Let's not talk about this now, I'll just update you tomorrow, okay?" he said, reaching over the desk to stroke her hand lightly.

She returned his smile and agreed.

"Are you coming over tonight?" she suddenly asked. She was immediately embarrassed, hearing herself say those words.

He looked up and paused for a second.

"Yeah, look, I don't think so, I still have some things to go over and I am really beat, so..."

She cut him off:

"Oh yeah, sure" not wanting to hear him trying to find excuses. She stood up and forced out another smile.

He saw her reaction and got up as well.

"Rory, it's nothing, it's just been a rough day..."

"No, of course, no worries" she said and leaned over his desk to give him a light kiss as if emphasizing she was fine.

"I'll see you tomorrow" she said with a fake smile and rushed out of his office for the second time that day.

She went back to her desk and gathered her stuff, not being able to sit down or stay there anymore, her frustration making her want to walk it out. She left the office building immersed in thoughts.

Her mind was racing, calculating.

Was he being strange? Or was he just tired? Did this have something to do with his father? Or work?

She couldn't make sense of it. She finally came to a stop out on the street, the cool air calming her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

You gotta stop obsessing, she told herself as she resumed walking.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The doorbell woke her up.

It has been pushed several times and she tried to steady herself on the bed after having just sat up really quickly.

She sat there straining her eyes trying to comprehend where she was and what was happening. She looked at her alarm clock and read it. 2:14 A.M.

Who the hell would disturb her at that time?

She pulled herself up from her bed and walked out towards her hall, bumping into things on her way, not having bothered to turn on any lights.

She opened the door energetically.

"What!" she shouted, her eyes squeezed shut because of the streetlight hurting her.

"You were sleeping?" he asked slowly.

"What the hell do you think I was doing, it's 2 A.M." she answered shocked.

"I'm sorry".

She opened her eyes now, seeing Logan standing in her doorway. He looked exhausted.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, still trying to adjust her eyes.

"I couldn't sleep" he whispered.

"You look like crap" she said, which was sort of ironic given her state "how is it possible you couldn't sleep?"

"I don't know" he said, his face in a frown.

She studied him a bit worried.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice barely audible.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"I... I just... I wanted to..." he was trying to formulate a coherent sentence.

She pulled him in and closed the door behind him, taking off his coat. He let her do it.

She lead him into the bedroom and pushed him onto the bed, taking his shoes off. He seemed so tired, closing his eyes as soon as he was lying on the bed. She got up next to him and pulled him close, letting his head rest against her chest.

"What is it Logan?" she whispered again.

"Nothing" he murmured "I just sleep better when you're there" he said simply, already drifting off to sleep.

She smiled to herself and pulled the covers over them.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Something woke her up. Her head was still in a haze as she tried to make sense of what was happening.

Logan was on top of her, kissing her neck and running his hands over her body.

"You've got some nerve, mister, waking me up twice in one night!" she said, her speech slurred.

She felt his naked body on top of her and he was already working on pulling down her shorts.

"Your alarm is gonna go off in 15 minutes anyway. I thought this would be a much nicer wake-up call" he whispered seductively in her ear.

"You are out of your mind Huntzberger" she said trying to push him off of herself laughing.

He resisted, grinding his hips against hers letting her feel his arousal.

"Oh, the infamous erection" she smiled, her eyes still closed.

He couldn't suppress his laugh.

"I sense a bit of sarcasm. I fear you are not appreciative enough of my assets" he said accusingly.

She sighed.

"Oh I think I am" she said, finally opening her eyes, emphasizing her words by grasping his cock with her hand.

He groaned at the sudden pressure.

"I want you so fucking bad" he whispered in her ear as he lifted her tanktop.

His words gave her goosebumps and she felt her body come alive. His skin felt so warm against her now naked body. She kissed him passionately as she felt his erect member pushing against her legs. She moaned into their kiss.

He suddenly spun her around, repositioning her on top off him and she straddled him making his breathing become more rapid.

He pulled her higher, so he could bury his head in her breasts. His hands travelled up her body coming to rest on the sides of her breasts, pushing them together. He licked her nipples watching as they became hard and hearing her gasp as his tongue circled them. She leaned into him, allowing him more contact and steadying herself with her hands on the headboard.

He continued sucking her breasts as his hands slid down again to her hips. He lifted her gently and guided his cock inside of her.

She moaned as he slid into her and he let his head fall back onto the bed as he enjoyed the feeling of her tight pussy around his hard cock.

He thrust into her, making her moan again. She started rocking on top of him, setting her own rhythm and he closed his eyes enjoying the feelings she was eliciting inside of him.

She leaned into him, once again letting him taste her breasts as she quickened the pace.

His hands on her hips, he guided her movements, holding her steady on top of him.

The friction on her clit made her go crazy and she moaned continuously now.

He saw her coming closer and he thrust into her harder, meeting her movements.

She grasped the headboard and was moaning his name as his thrusts sent her over the edge.

She came hard, contracting over him, her whole body trembling. She collapsed on top of him panting and mumbling under her breath.

"What was that?" he whispered into her ear.

"I said you were right, this is a much better wake-up call"

He smiled as he spun her around once more still inside of her, wanting to be on top, steadying himself with his arms.

He started to thrust into her slowly, feeling how tight she was from having just orgasmed. He cursed at the sensation.

Wanting to make him go even deeper, she lifted her legs and placed them on his shoulder one by one. He slid into her all the way, making her gasp.

It felt incredible, he could feel himself losing control, wanting his own release. He quickened the pace thrusting deep into her and she clutched his neck as she came a second time, screaming his name in pleasure.

He came as well with one last thrust, emptying into her and groaning loud.

He collapsed on top of her, his heart beating violently, trying to slow his breathing.

She smiled as her alarm clock went off.


	10. Back into the haze

"I am not liking this" Logan said standing behind his desk looking over the draft of the next day's issue.

Rory looked at him frustrated.

"When are you ever liking it?" she asked and she watched as he ignored her remark.

"This one can stay, although I wish you'd spare the drama and just put your name on it. Why is he still working here?" he asked, still not looking up, referring to their argument about Charles Hay.

She rolled her eyes.

"You seriously want to discuss this 12 minutes before deadline?"

He sighed.

"Fine. Then switch these two around, have her rewrite this crap here, and let's drop this other one altogether, this is completely off" he said, still looking at the drafts, gesturing with his hands.

Rory studied him as he talked. He seemed nervous, preoccupied, something she hasn't seen in the last couple of days. Not since his father's been here.

"Is he coming over?" she suddenly asked.

He finally looked up at her.

"My father?" he asked, not even waiting for her reply "I usually care about how the paper turns out either way, but yes, my father is stopping by tonight."

"Well, you shouldn't worry about all this. It is my job, after all. He can talk to me if he has a problem with it" she said determined, taking the drafts out of his hands and walking towards the door.

"Ace" he pleaded with her.

"No. I am sick of this. I feel like for the past week you've been overruling my editing decisions and if you want to do that, fine, but as far as I am concerned, I am still the editor." she said as she opened the door "now, if you'll excuse me, I have a deadline to meet".

He sighed as he watched her shut the door behind her.

He sat in his chair. He was tired. This week has been exhausting for him. It took all of his efforts to try to stay professional with Rory. It was hard to reason with her, hard to convince her of anything. And even if he decided to stick with his decisions it was fucking hard to resist her.

He's been spending all his nights at her place, he practically lived there. No matter how much they argued during the day, he couldn't stay away from her. Plus, weird as it was, he felt this calmness when sleeping in her bed, felt at peace and woke up revitalized.

His other problem was trying to convince Mitchum of sticking with this paper. He was halfway convinced about the paper itself, but he had serious doubts about the editing. Logan felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He looked up as his father burst in the door.

"Well this issue doesn't look any better than the last one" he said "I thought you had some influence on this woman, Logan."

"Please don't start." he replied as he watched his father looking over the drafts.

He was only hoping those were copies and Rory and him didn't have a bloody battle over who gets to look over them.

"Look at this, this whole page is crap. Except for this one article. Who's Charles Hay? Never heard of him"

Logan looked at him with a wry smile.

"That's Rory. She's writing that halfwit's articles pretty much"

"Well maybe she should get back to writing. At least that she's good at" he scoffed.

"Dad"

"This is nonsense Logan. Clearly she's not ready for this yet. She is intelligent and a great talent, but she's too young and she is just not capable of doing this"

"She's been doing alright"

"Well she has to do better than alright to make this paper profitable"

Logan sighed. It was the same fight over and over again.

"Let's let her go" Mitchum said.

Logan slumped back into his chair.

"And lose her as a writer?"

"She can stay as a writer"

"You think she's gonna stay here after you tell her she is not good enough to be an editor?"

"Well, excuse me for not giving a damn about her feelings, Logan, I am not the one fooling around with her"

Logan stared at him, his anger boiling in his eyes.

"The only reason I ever believed in this whole paper was her. Because of her writing. Not because I am fooling around with her. You know she's good, you said it yourself. You shut this paper down, or fire her and she'll be out the door in seconds. And you can bet she'll never work for a Huntzberger publication again."

"Logan" Mitchum said, sitting down in a chair, his voice calmer once again "that's a loss that you have to take sometimes. You know that. You would know that if you weren't so blinded by her."

"I am not blinded by her" Logan interrupted frowning.

"Oh really? Because the way I see it she's convinced you to change your decisions when I know you would have stuck by them any other time. Because I know that with any other writer you would have counted your loss and would have moved on, for the sake of the company."

He paused as he saw Logan lowering his gaze.

"You mean to tell me you would have made the same decisions about this paper if she wasn't the editor?" he questioned.

Logan closed his eyes, frowning.

"You can't let her do this to you" Mitchum continued.

Logan's eyes snapped open.

"She's not doing anything to me, father" he shot back irritated.

"Are you sure?" Mitchum asked him, his voice full of doubt.

"How do you know she hasn't done this all on purpose?" he went on.

Logan sneered.

"For god's sake, she didn't plan this" he hissed.

"How would you know?" Mitchum said, raising his voice again "How would you know?" he repeated, slower.

"What do you know about this woman? Nothing. All you know is she's got a talent for words and she's been incredibly successful in this business for someone so young."

Logan looked at him astonished.

"You think she got this far by..." he couldn't finish.

"I don't know" Mitchum said "how could I? All I know is that she is 32 and an editor of a major paper and she's got you convinced she shouldn't be fired".

Logan sat in silence.

He knew his father, knew his skills to persuade were excellent, knew he carried a hell of an argument. But suddenly it didn't just feel like he was trying to convince him.

Maybe he was right. Maybe he's just been too blind to see it this way. He couldn't imagine Rory planing all this out, but maybe, maybe subconsciously she was... He couldn't finish his thought, his mind was racing.

Or maybe. Maybe it was all planned out. He was replaying scenes in his head, trying to understand it, find a moment in time, as if remembering that one particular detail would make him see things clearly.

"Logan" he heard his fathers voice pulling him back to reality. He sat there, staring at a spot on his desk, his face frozen in a frown and that uncertain feeling returning to his chest. That feeling from the first day, the first time he saw her. He felt like his heart was crumpling up and his head was spinning.

"Logan" he heard his father's voice again.

This time he looked up. He saw him staring at him, with a sympathetic expression on his face as he began to talk:

"Look, I think it would be best if I took over from here. There is a paper down in L.A. I wanted you to take a look at anyway. I'll stay here and will take care of all this. And you... well, you'll have the time to think about... you know, get a perspective."

Logan listened to him without resistance and nodded his head lightly.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She heard the doorbell ring and looked up in anticipation.

It was already midnight and she hasn't seen him leave the office. By the time she finished with the issue, he was already gone. She found it strange but she figured he had a meeting with his father.

She opened the door and smiled as she saw him standing in the doorway. She moved in and gave him a light kiss on the lips.

"Hey" she said casually taking his hand and pulling him inside.

She was surprised to feel him resist. She turned to look at him, questioningly.

He looked like crap, tired and ... there was something else in his eyes that made her feel uneasy.

"What's wrong? Aren't you coming in?"

"No" he breathed the answer as if it were painful for him to speak.

She glanced behind him and saw a cab waiting. She looked at him again, puzzled.

"I have to go to L.A." He finally said.

"What? What do you mean?" she asked astonished.

"There is a paper there I have to look at" he said, his voice serious.

"What about here?" she asked bewildered.

"My father will take over" he stated simply.

"What?" she asked in shock. "What's all this Logan?"

He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, then paused as if trying to find the right words.

"It will probably be better this way" he spoke slowly, his breathing heavy.

She felt her legs going week with the uncertainty attacking her "Better?" she huffed.

He closed his eyes and took another breath, not being able to talk anymore.

"What about us?" she asked him, hurt in her voice.

He looked at her with a painful expression on his face.

"I... I don't know" he mouthed the words.

She stared at him, her expression hardening, her chest rising and falling heavily.

"Well don't miss your flight" she hissed as she stepped back inside to slam the door in his face.

He leaned against the door cursing under his breath.

He stood there for a second, then walked down the steps and sat in the cab.

Rory listened through the door as it sped off.


	11. The proposition

Logan was staring out of his office window.

A new office again.

The light was so strong, too strong for his liking. He was not a California lover. Plus his state of mind preferred the gloom right now.

L.A. turned out to be just like any other paper he's been to in the last couple of years. He settled into the same old routine, felt tired, uninterested, unaffected again.

And he couldn't stop thinking about her.

He closed his eyes and saw those incredible blue eyes, saw the hurt in them, the expression she wore the last time he saw her. He saw her whenever he closed his eyes. He had trouble sleeping, the quiet in his hotel room seemed to hurt his ears and it left him alone with this weird feeling wedging his chest.

He kept thinking about what happened, over and over again.

He traced the happenings of those two weeks back to the smallest detail. He still didn't have a grip on it. It seemed as though he was under a spell, time during those two weeks seemed to pass so fast, yet so much happened. And every memory about her, well, it was just indefinable. The pictures, conversations, interactions in his mind's memory seemed to change every time he recalled them. And they were pouring into his thought even if he didn't want to think about them.

He wasn't sure what to think anymore. He realized that she never could have plotted anything, never would have used him.

Intentionally.

But he also knew that she had a certain power over him. He didn't know how or why. All he knew was that he wasn't himself when he was there with her. He wasn't in charge of his desires, emotions, feelings. And everything he did was influenced by her in one way or another.

Being away from there, from her, was like going through withdrawal, at least it hurt like it. He was hoping the hurt would subside and clarity would set in.

He hasn't talked to her since he left. He wouldn't have known what to say, how to explain himself.

She probably hated him now. Not just for leaving her like that, but for leaving everything behind.

He wasn't like that, he didn't like to leave unfinished business behind. But that conversation with his father made him realize he was not in control of his own actions when it came to making decisions.

He took a deep breath. And tried to imagine how it's all gonna turn out. How his life is going to get back onto the same track it's been on.

Then it suddenly hit him.

He didn't want that. He didn't want to go back to that life.

Up to this point he thought that meeting her put him in a trance, a dreamlike state.

But maybe it just woke him up.

Maybe it made him see what was important to him.

Because that's how it felt. That after years of indifference, something was important to him, something made him feel things. Hurt and angst and desire and need and love.

Did it really matter that having this experience changed him? Changed his priorities? Made him see things differently?

He knew the answer already.

He turned around and stormed out of his office.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Huntzberger residence was quiet as Mitchum finally sat down in his favorite armchair. It was past midnight, but he still wanted to look over some documents.

The past week had been hectic. He'd forgotten how much work merging a paper really was. For the past couple of years he let Logan and some younger employees take over conducting these operations and he resigned to overseeing everything.

He was more than surprised at what had happened with Logan. He was usually fast, efficient, and didn't bother not making any friends when he introduced the changes that were needed to be made to conduct a successful merge.

This time he noticed he was hesitant, not as thorough, but he also seemed to be more enthusiastic, more determined. He didn't realize what the reason was until he went there to see it himself.

He never in his wildest dreams would have thought it would turn out to be a girl.

He knew Logan and his womanizing ways. He was approaching 35 but never even thought of settling down. He always had some company, for longer or shorter periods of times, but it wasn't a companion. It was passing time.

He's never seen any girl with such an effect on his son and in such short time.

He wondered what it was about her. He only saw a quiet, yet determined girl. Sure she was strong willed. And pretty. And intelligent. And a terrific writer.

Mitchum had to agree with his son on that one. She was indeed going to be a loss for this paper, but Mitchum thought keeping her in the editor position would have been a mistake. She did a good enough job but she approached the task from an emotional direction. She had a hard time saying no to her staff, a hard time making decisions that would have hurt others. And she was desperately trying to do as much as possible, waste all her time and energy on perfecting every single article, fixing things, helping. She had a writer's mind.

Probably because she was a writer.

She didn't have that reserved and authoritative demeanor that an editor needed to have.

Mitchum gave her her week of notice right after Logan left and he took over.

She didn't resist. He saw hurt in her eyes, but she stayed composed and agreed to help with whatever needed to be done. She refused his offer to have her stay on as a reporter.

Mitchum was disappointed, because he was losing a talent. But as he'd told Logan, it was a decision that was unavoidable.

He looked up when he heard the door being unlocked. He didn't know who it could possibly be, especially at this time of night.

Logan walked in, his face fatigued and weary, but his eyes sparkling with a certain determination.

"You're up. Good" he said and dropped his bag next to a chair, taking off his coat.

Mitchum looked on not hiding his shock.

"What are you doing here? What about the paper in L.A.?" he asked in disbelief as he watched his son.

"You know there is nothing there that needs my attention, it was just an excuse to send me away" he said annoyed.

Mitchum didn't disagree. It was mainly a mean to get him out of here and get him to have some perspective.

The two of them stared at each other. Mitchum studied his son as he sat down in a chair and running his hand through his hair took a deep breath.

"I am replacing her Logan, it's the best for the paper" he started, choosing his words carefully.

"I know" he interrupted.

His approval surprised him. Mitchum narrowed his eyes trying to understand why he came back in the middle of the night if it wasn't to make a scene.

"Who did you have in mind?" Logan asked focused.

"Uhm... Fred Janicke" he spoke with caution "he agreed to come in tomorrow to have a look"

Logan cut him off:

"Tell him someone else got the job"

Mitchum stared at him bewildered.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I have a proposition for you"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rory was lying awake on her bed unable to sleep.

She couldn't say how long she has been staring at the ceiling for, but it surely must have been hours.

Rest wouldn't come.

She sighed. Taking a deep breath seemed to ease that weight she's felt for the past week, if only for a second.

She was not surprised by Mitchum's decision. She was ready for that possibility the minute she heard the paper is being sold. She's never really considered it actually happening up until Logan left. It surprised her how little losing her job affected her

She wondered what the reason was.

She's been the editor for the past one and a half year, after the previous editor passed away suddenly. She's been working at the paper for a long time by then and she was already a sort of cornerstone, helping out with editing and everything else. This paper has always had a homely atmosphere and making her the editor seemed natural at the time.

She took the role appreciating the challenge, but also feeling a great deal of gratitude towards the previous editor and the paper itself.

She never really considered the possibility that this is not necessarily what she wanted.

Not until Logan asked her about it. He seemed to figure it out in a couple of days time, barely even knowing her and yet it took her this long to even consider it.

So really, it was a sense of relief. A chance for her to start over, reconsider what she really wanted from life, move on.

She didn't want to stay on at the paper. She didn't want to see a stranger take over of something that was part of her life for so long.

Plus it was better to be away from the Huntzbergers.

And that lead her to the real cause of her frustration.

Logan.

Realizing that losing her spot as editor didn't crush her made her face the fact that the reason she felt broken, felt like crap was really... Logan.

The way he left.

It seemed like a flight, a cowardly act and it enraged her. She couldn't make sense of it, couldn't explain it.

And frankly after a couple of days she felt sick of wanting to explain it. She felt it was pathetic, a slap in her face, so she forbid herself to think about him or whatever was happening with the two of them.

Of course it was not so easy forgetting Logan Huntzberger.

Or anything about him.

The memories, so few, but so sharp kept returning to her conscience. The fact was that meeting him brought something back into her life, evoked feelings, needs she had forgotten about. And now the void seemed to leave her with an ever-present ache.

She sighed again and prayed for sleep to silence her thoughts.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I don't see how this is any different from when she was the editor" Mitchum leaned back in his seat unimpressed.

"Oh but you do. It's the next best thing to yourself seeing over the editing" Logan spoke quickly, in a quiet voice, determined.

His father was not an easy person to convince, but he knew he had a strong argument. And he was desperate.

"Why would I agree to this?" his father asked incredulous.

"Because if you don't I'm quitting my job" his words echoed in the quiet room.

Mitchum paused as if trying to analyse the weight of the threat.

"I loose you either way" he said still not convinced.

"But this way you get to keep me as a son" he replied.

Mitchum realized he had this all planned out. He sneered.

"You would turn your life upside down and oppose me just because you fell in love with this girl?"

Logan dropped his gaze, now staring at a spot on the carpet. His voice was even more quiet than before, but determined as ever.

"Isn't it time I did?" he looked up again, staring at his father.

Mitchum took a deep breath as if admitting defeat. Maybe it was time.

"Fine. I'll give this 6 months. Nothing more." he said in a cold tone "I have to tell you I have a hard time believing in this. Not your idea, your feelings. But you seem convinced. So go ahead and do it, if this is really what you want."

He paused studying his son.

"But you still have her to convince."

Logan was aware. Getting her to even listen to him was probably a bigger task than convincing his father tonight.


	12. Elevator Redux

Rory stepped out of the elevator and walked into the office.

It seemed surreal. This place has been such a huge part of her life, these people became like a second family over the past years. And now it was all over.

She did her job with such determination, almost blinded determination. She was aware of that now. She wondered whether life had a funny way of reminding you that you are not in the right place, or pushing you out of the little nest you created just so you can actually realize maybe it's not really what you wanted.

She didn't know. She didn't want to think about this. All the thinking has been too painful, too much to take. She let herself sink into a sort of indifference, it was the only thing protecting herself from all the questions that have been invading her thoughts ever since he'd left.

She reached her desk and saw the note that informed her Mr. Huntzberger requested to see her.

She knew what it was about. She was supposed to meet her successor today and help him settle in. She decided she would stay on only until absolutely necessary. The new editor, Frank Janicke was older, experienced, the whole ordeal seemed like a formality. Something Mitchum Huntzberger wanted just for the sake of civility.

Mitchum had offered her to stay on as a reporter, stressing the fact that he found her extremely talented and a great asset to the paper. Rory thought it was a lame attempt at appeasement, an offer out of pity. Either way, she wasn't interested. Somehow the sanctity of working here has disappeared, which was the reason she accepted the assistant, then chief editing position here in the first place.

She took her coat off and looked around the newsroom, as if trying to grasp every memory of this place, then walked towards Mitchum's office.

She stopped in front of Kate's desk.

"Hey, I got a note, can I go in?" she said.

"Yeah, he's expecting you" Kate answered.

Rory knocked lightly on the door and walked in closing the door behind her. The chair behind the desk was empty.

"Hey Ace."

She froze.

Those two words hit her like a tree, making her pulse race. She turned towards the window and saw him standing there.

"Logan" she whispered to herself, with an expression of hurt and disillusion "What are you doing here?".

She tried hard to steady her voice, but she couldn't hide the emotions stirring behind it.

He stepped closer, but stopped when she furrowed her brows.

He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated, then taking a deep breath started talking:

"I came back to take care of business"

"Right. Business." she said, her voice full of reproach.

She turned and walked over to the desk and sat in the chair in front of his desk as if to make clear this was a talk about business and nothing else. As if to stress the fact that she was here to settle everything. The first shock of seeing him has now subsided and her head was clear. He was here after all to talk about her replacement. Something that he didn't have the guts to tell her himself, but had let his father do, running off with some lame excuse. That was the conclusion she came to, having thought about it over and over again for the past week.

"When is Mr. Janicke expected?" she asked, avoiding his gaze as he walked over to seat himself across from her behind his desk.

"He's not coming" he said looking at her intently.

She looked up questioning him.

"I don't understand, isn't he going to be the new editor?" she said, her voice slightly annoyed now.

"No" he answered, his gaze still fixed on her eyes.

She narrowed her eyes as if trying to understand.

"Then who is?" she asked slowly, the tension building in the room.

"I am" he said.

She stared at him in shock, her blue eyes darkening, her breathing quickening.

She huffed.

"Is this what it was all about? You becoming editor?" she said raising her voice and rising from her chair, her anger imminent.

"No, Rory, please, let me explain" he said trying to calm her, also getting up from his seat.

"Yes why don't you explain to me Logan, because right now I don't see what this whole charade was good for in the first place" she yelled and paced up and down the room like a caged tiger „What was the point? Of making me believe I was gonna stay in this position and you playing this game and taking me for a fool in the meantime"

"That's not how it was." he interrupted „You have to know that"

"No, I don't know that, Logan, I know nothing, all I know you up and leave and don't give me any explanation about anything…"

"It was a mistake, I am sorry"

She stopped and looked at him incredulous.

"You are sorry?" she said cynically.

"Yes. I shouldn't have left, but I did. I was confused, I made a mistake, but I am here and I am gonna make everything alright, if you let me" he spoke confidently, determined, looking into her eyes as if that would convince her.

"How?" she said crossing her arms „by becoming the editor?"

"I know this paper is important to you, Rory, and I know it's not important because you are the editor, it's important because it's your life" he said approaching her „And I know the only reason you aren't staying on is because you don't want to see it run by a stranger, so it's not going to be. It's going to be run by me and you can trust I will treat it with respect and appreciation"

"Why would you do this?" she asked her voice suddenly small.

"I told you before. I believe in it. And now I know why" he said coming to stop in front of her and reaching out to touch her arms „Because of you"

She stood there, her head shaking as if to let him know she didn't believe, didn't want to believe him.

"Rory, stay" he said, his voice suddenly quiet, barely a whisper „Stay here, do what you really want. Write. I know it's what you want, you know it too. Let me worry about running the paper"

She stood there, her face frozen, her brows furrowing, her chest heavily rising and falling.

"You don't know me. You don't know what I want" she whispered, trying to convince herself more than him.

"Yes I do. You know I do" he said pleading.

She stared at him, hurt and confusion swarming in her eyes.

"No" she said, pulling away and taking a step back. He watched in vain.

"I am leaving" she said backing away and dropping her gaze to the floor „Goodbye Logan"

She turned around and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

He stood there broken, closing his eyes. The hurt in her eyes killed him. He wished he could take it all away, make it all right. The words she said echoed in his ears and the anxiety, the dizziness that he knew returned.

He looked up and stared at the door. He knew he couldn't let this go. Couldn't let her go.

He started walking towards the door and opened it, quickening his steps. He stepped out into the newsroom trying to locate her and saw her empty desk. He looked up towards the exit and saw her walking out and reaching the elevator. He raced after her reaching her just as she stepped into the elevator.

"Rory"

She turned around seeing him and sighed as she pushed the button.

"Logan, don't."

He jumped in next to her just as the doors closed.

She sighed again and took a step back.

"Why are you afraid of this?" he asked passionately. She looked up at him confused as he continued.

"Of accepting I am right? Why can't you just let yourself be happy?"

"You're delusional" she scoffed, avoiding his gaze.

"No I'm not. I know you would be happy doing this, doing what you really love. You would have chosen this yourself. Don't deny it. Don't let your pride tell you something else. Stay here and do what you are good at, what you want to do."

"That's my choice to make, and I've made it, so please, just drop this" she said, her anger growing.

He looked at the display desperately, seeing they were quickly approaching ground floor. He took a step and pushed the emergency stop button. The elevator came to a jerking halt and the emergency red light came on.

"You are crazy" she shouted and tried to restart the elevator, but he blocked her way.

"I am in love with you" he said, looking intently in her eyes, his breathing heavy.

She stared at him bewildered not being able to respond.

"I am in love with you" he repeated, his voice lower, slowly approaching her as she backed towards the wall of the elevator „and I can't be away from you, I don't know how I ever thought I could. Let me make this right, let me make it all right. I need you and you have to give me this chance, Rory"

She was now pressed against the wall, wide-eyed and her chest heavily rising and falling.

She felt everything spinning and her vision clouded, her head in a daze.

She felt his breath on her face, could smell his scent and although her mind wanted to resist, her body was aching to touch him.

She closed her eyes trying to steady herself and he reached her, his lips crashing into hers, his hands going around her waist, pulling her to him. She couldn't resist, her body remembering his touch, she kissed him passionately, as he moaned with pleasure and relief. He broke away from her mouth and kissed her face, her jaw, her neck, whispering:

"God, I missed you so much"

He pushed her against the wall and met her lips again with his, pushing his tongue inside her mouth.

Feeling him against her body was like feeding an addiction, she felt her every nerve ending respond and her senses aroused. Their bodies melted into one another, remembering each other's touch.

Her body was ecstatic, but her mind was in turmoil, words and thoughts echoing in her head, becoming louder and louder.

She pushed him away gasping for air and reached her hand out as if to stop him from resisting.

He looked at her, his breathing heavy, his eyes full of want and desperation.

"I need to get away from here" she said pushing passed him and restarting the elevator.

"Rory" he pleaded.

"I need to think" she said closing her eyes and steadying her breathing.

He fell back hitting the other wall in exhaustion and watched helplessly as she ran out of the elevator as the doors opened.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

His body was exhausted. He hasn't slept sound since… since he left here over a week ago. His limbs felt numb and ached all over. He welcomed that ache. As if the discomfort in his body would silence the ache in his soul.

He buried himself in work that day, as if producing that issue would be a test, proof that there were still things that he could hold onto.

He didn't let himself think of her, because he knew if he did, desperation would win over. Burying all of that seemed like the only logical choice.

He walked through the newsroom, having just finalized the draft for next day's issue and feared the silence slowly setting in on the room as it emptied. He knew that silence would bring back the thoughts.

He walked into his office and closed the door behind him, letting his back rest against it and closing his eyes.

It had started raining outside, the raindrops hitting his window created a steady beat.

"Why did you leave?"

Her voice cut through the silence of the room like a knife. His eyes snapped open and were straining to see in the darkness. She was standing in front of the window staring out over the city. He watched as she slowly turned around, her expression expectant.

He sighed. How could he explain to her, without hurting her?

"Did you think I was using you? Is that what he told you?" she asked.

He stood in silence choosing his words carefully.

"I thought you had an influence on me, too strong maybe"

"I never used you to get…" she whispered desperately, but there was no need, he cut her off.

"I know you didn't. Not deliberately. But you were forced to fight me, because of where we stood, because of your position and mine" he said seriously.

"Do you think it's going to change if I'm not the editor, but a reporter? How do you know you won't feel the same way?" she asked, her voice small.

"I don't know" he surrendered "but I am hoping you won't need to influence me, if you won't have to fight these battles" he said, as if his feelings were finally able to express themselves, finding a voice.

"What battles?" she asked quietly.

"These ones you didn't chose for yourself" came his reply.

He heard her let out a long sigh, finally letting go.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Logan looked out over the evening city. It had become a ritual to him. It felt nice to see that same city, that same view every night. It was a nice reminder of the calm that had set into his life since he started working as the editor at the Herald Star. He realized this is what his life was lacking. Stability. Calmness. That calm eventually brought him everything that he missed without ever really knowing it.

He went back to his desk and sat down, returning his attention to the article he was reading before. He reread the title, _Battles_, then the last paragraph.

_ And that's when clarity comes. When you realize not all battles are yours to fight. _

_ Not all reasons need your sacrifice. When you let them go, there comes an incredible feeling _

_of liberation, of enlightenment. Is this wisdom? Is this experience?Is this trust? No. _

_It's just how it all should be._

_ Rory Gilmore,_  
_ resigning editor_

He finished reading and a faint smile crossed his face.

He turned off his desk lamp and put his coat on. Taking his briefcase, he walked out of his office, closing the door behind him. He walked down the hallway and into the hall, calling the elevator. He stepped in, as the door opened.

"Leaving without me again?" she said strolling in next to him in the process of putting on her coat.

"I figured once you see me leaving, you scurry on your puny little legs to catch up anyways" he said with his smirk in place.

"I beg your pardon, my legs are gracious and captivating" she said with mock indignation.

"I have to agree on that one" he said smiling, pulling her in close.

"How is that story coming along, Ace?" he asked her, his tone warm, his eyes sparkling.

"It's going perfectly fine, editor, I'll give it to you as soon as I am done" came her reply, her smile lgithing up the small elevator.

"Hmmmm. I think you should give it to me sooner" he said suggestively.

She rolled her eyes smiling and leaned in to kiss him as the doors slid close.

The End

* * *

**Okay folks, well that's about it. I hope you enjoyed the story. I had a good time writing it.**

**Thank you for all your reviews, I had fun reading them.**

**Until next time, take care.**


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